NBF forms self regulatory body to ensure fair reporting

The News Broadcasters Federation has set up a self regulatory body called Professional News Broadcasting Standards Organisation (PNBSO) to oversee fair reporting in its member companies. Former chief justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar has been appointed as the chairman of PNBSO.

The self regulatory body comprises of nine members including the chairman who is chosen from the retired pool of Supreme Court Judges, four editorial members and four eminent citizens. The NBF-PNBSO has committed to meeting every three months review complaints filed against member companies. RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi and media veteran Chintamani Rao are among the nine members of the self regulatory body.

The organisation has drafted a compliant mechanism. In case of violation, the panel will issue a warning and mandate the offending channel to run an apology scroll specifying the date and time - an action to be complied and reported to the NBF-PNBSO within 7 days of the order. Any repeat or serious violations would incur a fine of up to Rs 10 lakhs. A repeat violation by a channel/anchor would incur a warning to run an apology scroll for two days with a specific date and time; removing the achor for up to three months/ or a financial penalty of up to 5 lakhs.

Sourced from media reports.