New guidelines, overseen by a former Indian chief justice, were implemented in response to the minute-by-minute coverage of last month’s three-day assault in Mumbai, during which the government temporarily shut TV stations for just under an hour.
Under the “emergency protocol,” broadcasters will now delay live coverage of sensitive incidents and withhold information on security operations. Ministers will still be able to take channels off air, but it will be seen as a “nuclear option.”
TV stations gave audiences a ringside seat to the violence in Mumbai as 10 militants killed 170 people in India’s financial capital. Many channels ran live images of gunmen spraying bullets into crowds of people.
India’s news industry has grown exponentially in recent years, with dozens of 24-hour news stations opening, but some critics say regulation has failed to keep pace.
“It is a failure of self-regulation which by its nature is left up to individuals’ consciences,” said Rajdeep Sardesai, editor in chief of CNN-IBN, an Indian news channel. “We had set a code of conduct up in October but then came Mumbai. The challenge is whether [the new protocol’s] intent can be translated into implementation.”
The News Broadcasters Association managed to stave off the threat of a new government body, headed by a civil servant, to regulate news content in the country. Senior politicians claimed the militants had been able to check counterterrorism measures during the attacks by watching Indian TV.
Senior opposition figures said the live feed of commandos being dropped on to the roof of the Jewish center in Mumbai endangered the success of operations and the safety of hostages as well as security forces.
Another channel, India TV, was criticized by India’s broadcasting ministry for airing an interview with “terrorists,” which the government said was affording a “platform to espouse their cause.”
Arnab Goswani, the editor in chief of Times Now, India’s biggest English-language news channel, which had been accused of adopting a “Fox News, war-mongering stance,” defended broadcasters, saying that criticism had to be seen as part of the “government and media learning how to deal with sensitive issues.”
“Self regulation remains the key. We do not want regulation thrust upon us and we want to protect the media’s independence,” he said. “In a democracy nothing should be left unquestioned.”
The after-effects of the attacks continued across south Asia yesterday as the Indian parliament passed a law allowing police to hold suspects for up to 180 days without charge. Pakistan called in a senior Indian diplomat to protest at alleged violations of its airspace by Indian warplanes. Jets were scrambled to chase off intruders that crossed into Pakistani airspace on Saturday, but Islamabad described the incident as “inadvertent.”
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