Broadcast bill on backburner but minister hasn't given up

BILL BLOCKED: Information and Broadcasting Minister says he wants consensus on content code.

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Keywords: News Channels, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi

New Delhi: The UPA Government has decided not to table the Broadcast Bill, which imposes a content code on the media, in the monsoon session of Parliament.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Das Munsi thinks restricts sting operations and exposes don’t make news and he wants news channels to stop airing them.

But his proposal for a content code is up against the collective power of the press. That is why despite his keenness, the government will not table the controversial bill in this session.

“We need consensus and I am personally going to hold meetings with channel heads,” Munsi said on Tuesday, conceding that he had failed to get consensus on the Bill.

Getting consensus for the Bill will be difficult though, as the content code proposes an auditor who will preview what a channel is going to air and can even over rule its editor. Journalists have therefore refuse to accept the code.

Aroon Poorie, chairperson of the TV Today Group, said the Bill was unacceptable.

But Das Munshi is not giving up: he is aware that there is growing discontent with what several channnels show for news and that sting operations can be uncomfortable for the political parties

So, armed with logic, the I &B minister will meet channel heads end of August and then take the proposal to the cabinet. By which time the parliament session might be over.