Govt's strong advisory to TV channels on reporting. It mentions Pant's accident

The ministry of information and broadcasting on Monday issued a strong advisory to TV channels asking them to adhere to Programme Code laid under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 as the government observed multiple violations over the last few months, including the news broadcast involving Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant who was recently injured in a car crash. The ministry said television channels have reported incidents of accidents, deaths, and violence “which grossly compromised on 'good taste and decency'” and were ”quite unpalatable to the eyes and ears of a common viewer."

Reminding the broadcasters of a “certain sense of responsibility and discipline”, the advisory said reporting violent incidents “without taking the precaution of blurring the images or showing them from long shots” are distasteful, heart wrenching, distressful, indignifying, sensational.

“Such reporting also have an adverse psychological impact on the children. There is also a crucial issue of invasion of privacy which could be potentially maligning and defamatory.”

The ministry also blasted the channels for sourcing the video clips from social media without making an effort to “modulate or attune or edit such clips so as to make it compliant and consistent with the spirit of the Programme Code.”

“Such telecast by the television channels is a matter of grave concern and in view of the larger public interest involved and having regard to the nature of audience of television channels including elderly, women and children, all private television channels are strongly advised to attune their systems and practices of reporting incidents of crime, accidents and violence, including death in conformity with the Programme Code,” the advisory said.

The advisory mentioned 12 incidents on which news report telecast, according to the ministry, infringed the Programme Code, including the accident of Pant.