NBDSA orders TV news channels to remove 7 programmes that violated ethics code; Slaps ₹25,000 fine on News18 for vilifying entire Muslim community for acts of few miscreants
Justice AK Sikri observed that a show by the broadcaster was interspersed with statements made by anchor Aman Chopra which targeted and castigated the entire Muslim community for the actions of a few miscreants.
AMN / WEB DESK
In a historic move, The Regulatory body, News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) has ordered three TV news channels including News18 India, Zee News and Times Now to remove seven programmes broadcast by them from their online platforms and YouTube because these were in violation of the Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards.
NBDSA chairperson justice AK Sikri (retd) also imposed a cumulative fine of ₹95,000 on News18 India on three complaints that accused its programme, Desh Nahi Jhukne Denge, of giving communal colour to its reports. The three episodes, which were found violative of the guidelines, were broadcast last year on January 18 ( ₹50,000 fine), August 5 ( ₹20,000) and October 4 ( ₹25,000).
In his decision imposing a fine of ₹50,000 on News18 India, justice Sikri noted that there were religious undertones to the report “Hinduon ke khilaf Mahagathbandhan?”. “By starting the debate on the premise that 20% people were ganging up against Hindus constituting 80%, the anchor had given the debate a thrust, which is communal in nature and not appropriate. No doubt, even those elements belonging to minorities who give inflammatory speeches against the people of other religions/majority, have to be condemned,” he said.
NBDSA said the show was flagged off by the anchor with a communally polarizing question, who “crossed threshold of impartiality by making certain statements during the programme”.
Justice Sikri also faulted the episode broadcast on August 8 that reported on a purported report by security agencies on population increase in border areas.
“NBDSA observed that there would have been no problem with the broadcast, if the broadcaster in the impugned broadcast had raised only national security concerns in respect of demographic changes around the border areas of the country due to infiltration and had sought answers from the Government as to what actions it had taken in respect of the same. However, in the instant case, no accountability was sought from the Government rather the broadcast attempted to communalize the issue,” the authority said, imposing a ₹20,000 fine
On a complaint about the coverage of the population control bill by Zee News on July 12, NBDSA noted that by “airing unrelated visuals of Muslim gatherings and by selectively sharing statistics about the Hindu-Muslim population… the broadcaster had given the issue of population explosion a communal colour”. “In this regard, NBDSA observed that while it was permissible for the broadcaster to report the statistics available in the Pew Report which projected the Muslim population to be approximately 310 million by 2050,” NBDSA said. “However, in order to ensure balance and neutrality in the programme, it would have been appropriate for the broadcaster to also report the complete statistics given in the said Report which showed that the growth in the Hindu population, would be approximately 1.3 billion by 2050. NBDSA also observed that while reporting such statistics, it would have been factually correct and accurate for the broadcaster to also inform the viewers about the fact as to the growth rate of the various communities, which found mention in the Report instead of selectively picking up the statistics from the said Report.”
On a complaint about Times Now’s coverage on September 23 of a video that claimed Pakistan Zindabad slogans were raised outside collector’s office in Pune, NBDSA told the news channel to be careful in future. It noted that several websites fact-checked the said news report by stating that it was not “Pakistan Zindabad” but slogans of “PFI Zindabad” which were raised during the said protest.
“NBDSA was of the view that there would have been no problem with the impugned broadcast, if the broadcaster had merely reported that slogans of “Pakistan Zindabad” were allegedly raised during the PFI protest and issued a disclaimer warning the viewers about the authenticity of the video,” the authority said.
On World Population Day July 11, 2022, Zee News organized a debate titled ‘Jansankhya badhotari ke liye ek dharma ko zimmedar thehrana jayaz hai?’ NBDSA found Zee News guilty of depicting the issue of overpopulation by targeting the Muslim community and selectively sharing statistics. In this regard, Indrajeet Ghorpade had complained that the channel broadcast visuals of large Muslim crowds and statistics about the Hindu-Muslim population to project the Muslim community as being responsible for the population explosion. NBDSA concluded that the channel had given the issue of population explosion a communal colour.
NBDSA opined that it was permissible for the broadcaster to conduct a debate on the issue of population explosion. However, the broadcast lacked objectivity as it disproportionately focused only on one religion or community as solely responsible for the population growth. The channel has now been directed to publicise that the show was against the Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards.
Though this decision of NBDSA was welcome, questions are being raised regarding the time taken and the amount of fines being imposed on the news outlets and their anchors. Activist Om Deshpande commented that all fines combined wouldn’t even be half of the Producer’s monthly salary. He wrote, “NBDSA is a joke.” Many asked that the concerned anchors be made to go off air for good, while many suggested that they should be sent to jail.