The Role of Judiciary in the Regulation of News Channels

Profile of the Author: Arpita Prakash is a 2nd-year law student pursuing B.A. LL.B (Hons) from University Law College, Gauhati University.

Introduction

In India, there are 892 television channels out of which 403 are news and current affair channels. India is the world’s most over-served news market with approx 400 news and current affair channels [1]. In a huge market like this, the issue of serving fake news, biased news, or unreliable news is not unknown; some news channels are also identified as the pro-government or anti-government due to their constant try of setting agenda. Instead of prioritizing fair journalism most of the news channels have started displaying general entertainment content. With passing years news channels have lost their charm and respect due to paid news and fake news. Citizens of the country have stopped trusting such news channels. News channels in India have blurred the line between news and entertainment.

Relevant Laws

Unfortunately, there is no law for the regulation of news channels. There are specific laws on the radio broadcast, print media, and media in general but India lacks control over the content of news television channels.

The following are the laws related to print media:

1. The Press and Registration of Boos Act, 1867
2. Press and registration Appellate Board (Practice and Procedure) order, 1961
3. Registration of Newspaper (Central) Rules, 1956

Statutory body like the Press Council of India was established under the PCI act 1978 for the purpose of preserving the freedom of the press and of maintaining and improving the standards of newspaper and news agencies in India.

There is no statutory body to regulate news channels. News channels are governed by mechanisms of self-regulation. The self-regulatory bodies are:

1. News Broadcast Association (NBA)
2. Broadcast Editors’ Association and News Broadcasters’ Federation

News Broadcast Association (NBA)

The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) represents the private television news & current affairs broadcasters. It is the collective voice of the news & current affairs broadcasters in India. It is an organization funded entirely by its members.

The NBA has presently 26 leading news and current affairs broadcasters (comprising 71 news and current affairs channels) as its members. The NBA presents a unified and credible voice before the Government, on matters that affect the growing industry. [2]

The News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) is an independent body; it was set up by the News Broadcast Association (NBA). It considers and adjudicates upon the complaints about broadcasts. [3]

Broadcast Editors’ Association

The Broadcast Editors Association (BEA) is the apex body of editors of national and regional television news channels across the country.

In Hamdard Dawa khana V. Union of India, the constitutionality of Ss. 3 and 8 of the Drugs and Magical Remedies Act was challenged. The stated objective of the Act was to prohibit ‘misleading’ advertisements claiming certain drugs had magical remedies, arise out of concern that a number of people were using these fake drugs and worsening their own health. It was argued that this prohibition fell foul of Article 19(1)(a).

With passing years, it has been proved that the regulatory bodies are inefficient. In a petition filed by Nivedita Jha in Hon’ble Supreme court of India, NBSA filed an affidavit informing the Court that it had received 18 complaints regarding reporting of sexual offences against the broadcasters and the actions taken by it. The list showed that the authority did not take any action in 7 cases and remaining cases; no punitive action was taken against the news channels as they were let off with a warning or at most were asked to air an apology. [4]

In another case, FIR was launched against two news channels for spreading the “False Stories” by Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA). The GDA alleged that the Hindi news channels Samachar Plus and News 1 India had aired stories, levelling charges of Rs two crore bribery against its vice-chairperson, based on a one-sided version.

Conclusion

Specific laws to regulate news channels are the need of the hour. It will also help to regain the trust of the citizens in news channels. News channels have mostly converted their content into talk shows and general entertainment; this has highly affected the audience. The mainstream media usually covers news of big cities and ignore the actual suffering of the people. A pure example of such ignorance can be seen during the time of floods, states like Assam, Bihar, Uttarakhand submerges due to annual floods with hundreds of people dead but still hardly makes it to headlines. We rarely find India’s seven sisters covered by mainstream media, instead, all we get to see is some news that can be counted on fingers in every channel 24*7 related to metro cities. Free media is necessary to maintain a democracy but the consequences of fake news, paid news, biased news, and unreliable news are also important to understand. We often get to hear “the media is sold”, because people don’t find news channels creditable anymore.

Disclaimer: This article is an original submission of the Author. Niti Manthan does not hold any liability arising out of this article. Kindly refer to our Terms of use or write to us in case of any concerns.

FAQs

Q. When did the building block of news, the newspaper became well-known?

Ans. The first newspaper in the country was started in 1780 by the British and was known as Hicky’s Bengal Gazette. This gave an impetus to establish other newspapers that covered the tidings of the British Raj along with local news. Notably, the oldest continuously published newspaper in the country is the Bombay Samachar and was established in 1822.

References

[1] https://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/ib-ministry/total-of-television-channels-in-india-rises-to-892-with-three-cleared-in-june-160709#:~:text=Regulators-,Total%20of%20television%20channels%20in%20India%20rises%20to,with%20three%20cleared%20in%20June&text=NEW%20DELHI%3A%20With%20clearance%20to,current%20affairs%20channels%20number%20403.

[2] http://www.nbanewdelhi.com/about-nba

[3] http://www.ibfindia.com/news-broadcasting-standards-authority-nbsa#:~:text=News%20Broadcasting%20Standards%20Authority%20(NBSA)%20Back,adjudicate%20upon%20complaints%20about%20broadcasts.&text=Four%20eminent%20editors%20employed%20with%20a%20broadcaster.

[4] https://www.legaleraonline.com/articles/the-need-for-regulation-of-content-of-news-television-channels-in-india