OUR CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi: The Indian government on Monday issued an advisory to all television channels against reporting incidents of accidents, deaths, and violence, including those against women, children and the elderly. The advisory, issued by the Information and Broadcasting ministry, mentioned the manners of reporting such incidents “grossly compromises” “good taste and decency”.
The advisory has been issued after several instances of lack of discretion by television channels were noticed by the ministry.
It said that television channels have shown bodies of individuals and images or videos of injured persons with blood splattered around, people, including women, children and the elderly being beaten mercilessly in close shots, continuous cries and shrieks of a child being beaten by a teacher, shown repeatedly over several minutes, including circling the actions, thereby making it even more ghastly, without taking the precaution of blurring the images or showing them from long shots.
The ministry has further highlighted: “The manner of reporting such incidents is distasteful and distressing for the audience.”
The advisory has highlighted the impact such reporting has on various audiences. “These can also have an adverse psychological impact on children. There is also a crucial issue of invasion of privacy which could be potentially maligning and defamatory, the advisory has underlined,” the advisory emphasised.
“Television, being a platform usually watched by families in households with people from all cohorts — old aged, middle-aged, small children, etc., and with various socio-economic backgrounds, place a certain sense of responsibility and discipline among the broadcasters, which have been enshrined in the Programme Code and the Advertising Code,” the ministry added.
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