AIDWA seeks changes in content code

The broadcasting industry and women organisations seek major changes in the new content code proposed by the I&B ministry, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Updated on: Jun 1, 2007, 22:46:41 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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The broadcasting industry and women organisations have sought major changes in the new content code proposed by the I&B ministry.

At a meeting on Friday, the All India Democratic Women Association wanted specific clauses in the content code to prevent depiction of women in a bad light including advertisements. The association also wanted more curbs on the news channels to prevent sensationalisation of news and safeguard rights of women. AIDWA is expected to make a detailed presentation on its views on the content code soon.

The industry, which was represented by Indian Broadcasting Foundation, has reservation on fixing accountability of chief editor of a channel for violation of the content code.

The foundation also wanted only two categories of programmes - one for adults during night and another for non-adults. "They opposed a separate category of UA watershed timing between 8 and 11 pm," an industry representative present at the meeting said.

Roop Sharma, who represented cable operators, said there should be certain check on channels, showing sub-standard content for obtaining better TRP. She also said that indirect promotion of social evils like dowry and crime against women should be prohibited on television.

After receiving several objections on the draft content code, I&B ministry's Asha Swarup asked all stakeholders to submit its objections till June 15. Thereafter, the document will put on the website for seeking comments from public.

PN Vasanti of Center for Media Studies, that prepared the draft with I&B officials, said the new code was a path-breaking initiative because it prevents haphazard intervention by the government. "For the first time, the onus to abide by the content code is with the broadcaster. A three-tier grievance redressal system has also been provided," she said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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