Surprising to note that NDTV India has been singled out: NBA

After a statement issued by the Editors Guild of India, strongly condemning the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting’s 24-hour ban order on NDTV, now the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has also come out in NDTV’s support.

The Association, while expressing its deep concern regarding the ban decision, said that the “alleged violations” of NDTV India should have been referred to the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), the independent self regulatory body of the NBA.

Here’s the full text of News Broadcasters Association’s statement:

News Broadcasters Association (NBA) is deeply concerned with  the decision taken by the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MoI&B), to prohibit the transmission or re-transmission of NDTV India channel, a national channel, for one day on any platform throughout India w.e.f 00:01hrs on 9th November 2016 till 00:01hrs of 10th November 2016 ostensibly for the channel’s coverage of the Pathankot terror attack on 2.1.2016 on the ground that the channel gave out sensitive information to the handlers of terrorists.

It is surprising to note that NDTV India has been singled out by the IMC/ MoI&B, when the rest of the media also did cover the terror attack and all such reports were available in the public domain. The IMC and the MoI&B should have seen it from the prism of freedom of the media, which is guaranteed in the constitution and not gone strictly by the regulations under the Cable Act.

It would have been appropriate, if the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MoI&B) had referred the alleged violations of NDTV India to the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), the independent self regulatory body of the NBA.

In the interest of the freedom of the media, NBA requests the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to kindly re-consider its decision.

Media
@adgully

News in the domain of Advertising, Marketing, Media and Business of Entertainment

More in Media