PCI move to control TV channels opposed

The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) has strongly opposed the Press Council of India’s (PCI) move  to bring electronic media under its control.

The INS, the apex body of newspaper publications across the country, said: “This move appears to have been singlehandedly spearheaded by the PCI Chairman and he now claims to have the mandate of the PCI Council by way of a Resolution purported to have been passed by the  Council.”

The INS was referring to the PCI’s demand for an amendment to the Press Council Act, 1978 to bestow itself more powers in the guise of bringing the electronic media, both broadcast and social media, into its fold. INS president Ashish Bagga said in the release: “Many of the Press Council Members contradicted his (Chairman) claim and issued press statements. 

Print and electronic media in any case are  uniquely based on two different formats altogether, clearly requiring two distinctively separate sets of guidelines  and INS strongly believes that these mediums cannot and should not co-exist under one particular dispensation.”

Bagga added that INS believed that the press in India was time-tested and self regulated with enough maturity to continue to play the crucial role of a responsible Fourth Estate.

“It will continue to discharge its duties responsibly and therefore, any regulation on it is uncalled for.  The PCI was set up by Parliament as a statutory, quasi -judicial body for the purpose of preserving the Freedom of the Press and maintaining and improving the standards of newspapers and news agencies in India. The mandate given to it in the present format is adequate enough to discharge its responsibilities expected of the PCI,” the release added.