News broadcasters wary of ‘Draft Broadcast Bill’

New Delhi: Contrary to the general belief, news broadcasters are not favouring the Draft Broadcast Bill in its current form as it gives the government right to conduct inspections without prior permission or notification on broadcasting networks, broadcasting service providers, and other entities covered by the bill, such as content creators, among others.

The second draft of the bill shared with select broadcasters and industry bodies created a huge uproar last month.

While the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is defending itself by saying that the bill is still in the draft and consultation stage, news broadcasters told BestMediaInfo.com that the second or revised draft exposed the intent of the government.

The first draft of the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill was put up for public consultation on November 10.

“The govt assured us that all the 14 issues raised by us have been addressed. However, the second draft does not address those issues. Instead, the bill is far more draconian in the new form,” said a senior executive at a top news broadcaster.

“Isn’t it a wrong approach at the draft stage? Doesn’t it mean that the second draft or more such revised versions will become the final bill?” the executive added.

It was alleged that the news broadcasters lobbied and supported the draft bill as they were losing out to independent content creators who are proposed to be categorised as “digital news broadcasters”.

When asked, another top executive at a large news network told BestMediaInfo.com that this is purely a fake narrative.

“Even if a few ‘yes boss’ journalists or media executives might have gone to the government, they are not the voice of the industry. First of all, they are shortsighted as they care about their immediate challenges. Our anchors also post their views on social media. The government can target them to penalise us if this bill goes unchecked,” the top executive said.

“If the government enacts a law that enables it to conduct inspections without prior permission or notification, it is nothing less than an attempt to control the media. Any government, be it at the centre or state, deploys its prosecuting or investigative agencies against dissenting media houses or individuals. Wasn’t that enough that they now want constitutional powers to control the media?” the executive asked.

The general feeling that independent content creators are driving the narrative could possibly be the case with some claiming they played a significant role in 2024 election results.

However, the industry stakeholders are of the opinion that the narratives should be countered with facts. You cannot control the narrative, especially in the era of digital and social media.

“Today, you are targeting 100 such content creators. What will you do if this number grows to thousands and lakhs,” a broadcast veteran quipped adding that a draconian law is not in the interest of the nation.

“I think the BJP and their friendly journalists or media outlets believe that they will forever be in power and don’t realise when the table turns, they will be at the receiving end of this Act,” the veteran added.