NBA's Code of Ethics & Broadcasting Standards goes live

Kishore Sharma - Televisionpoint.com | New Delhi
Aghast at the manner in which many news channels promote programmes encouraging superstition thorough stories on ghosts, haunted houses and what not? Or angered by instances such as the recent Aarushi murder case where again most news channels happily went along with the police version that labeled the teen's father guilty?

News Broadcasters Association's (NBA) News Broadcasting Standards (Disputes Redressal) Authority to enforce NBA's Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards has come into effect from October 2. NBA had announced the constitution and establishment of the Authority in August this year.

Viewers unhappy with the content carried by news channels will now have a forum they can approach with their complaints. The nine-member authority will be functional under the chairmanship of justice J. S. Verma, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court of India.

However, registering a complaint won't come cheap. With a steep fee of Rs 1,000 per complaint and with the authority empowered to impose costs of up to Rs 10,000 on the complainant, it might well discourage viewers from lodging complaints.

So what does the content code, which has been formulated by the NBA provide for? Among other things, the code seeks to curb "sting" operations. As per the code, sting operations will be used as a tool of journalism only if the story serves an "identifiable larger public interest".

Further, the code says that "news channels will, as a ground rule, ensure that sting operations are carried out only as a tool for getting conclusive evidence of wrongdoing or criminality, and that there is no deliberate alteration of visuals, or editing, or interposing done with the raw footage in a way that it also alters or misrepresents the truth or presents only a portion of the truth."

As for the manner in which several news channels encourage superstition, the code states that news channels will not broadcast any material that glorifies superstition, occultism and ghosts in any manner.

Speaking to Televisionpoint.com, Verma says, "Social sanction or peer pressure is very often found to be far more effective than legal pressure. Self regulation is very important and that the media is a powerful source of both information and misinformation, the authority is important."

The authority will have jurisdiction over 30 news and current affairs channels in the country. All these channels are owned by 14 leading broadcasters of the country, which include TV Today, NDTV, MCCS, Times Now, CNN IBN, Zee News, Sun TV, ETV among others. And while there are around 300 news and entertainment channels in the country at present, at least a beginning has been made by some in terms of self-regulation.

The members under the Eminent Persons category include historian and author Ramachandra Guha; Kiran Karnik, former president, Nasscom; Prof Dipankar Gupta, well-known sociologist (JNU); Nitin Desai, economist and former under secretary general, United Nations.

Members under the Editors category include Vinod Kapri, managing editor, India TV; BV Rao, group editor, Zee News; Milind Khandekar, managing editor, Star News; and Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief, Times Now. The chairperson and other members shall hold the office for a period of two years.