’Undemocratic,’ say journalists as govt mulls blacklist for those spreading fake news

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Apr 03, 2018 : Voices of dissent have rose instantly against the new guidelines issued by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry, which has amended the guidelines for accreditation of journalists after noticing a significant increase in the publication of fake news at various media platforms.

 

Calling it an "an undemocratic move by the government that may throttle the media", some journalists are planning to hold a meeting to discuss and oppose the new guideline.

The I& B Ministry in its statement said that, "Now on receiving any complaints of such instances of fake news, the same would get referred to the Press Council of India (PCI) if it pertains to print media & to News Broadcasters Association (NBA) if it relates to electronic media, for determination of the news item being fake or not,"

To ensure that the proceedings don’t hurt the interest of the journalist facing the complaint, the agencies will complete the determination process within 15 days.

After the fake news has been reported and the agencies PCI or NBA confirm the publication or telecast of the news as ’fake news’, the accreditation of the journalists involved with creating and/or propagating fake news will be suspended for six months for first violation.

The accreditation will be suspended for one year in the case of second violation and it will be cancelled permanently in the event of the third violation.

Responding to comments on twitter, Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani posted, "Would like to highlight that ’fake news’ cases will be determined by PCI and NBA both not regulated / operated by GOI. Conduct rules and ethical work practices have been determined by NBA and PCI already."

To clarify the matter, Smriti irani explained that the government will not be either regulating or operating the test for fake news complaint, whereas, the bodies like the NBA and PCI who have set benchmark ethical conduct rules will keep a check on the news.

Senior journalist and commentator Shekhar Gupta tweeted, "Make no mistake: this is a breathtaking assault on mainstream media. It’s a moment like Rajiv Gandhi’s anti-defamation bill. All media should bury their differences and resist this."

Senior journalist Suhasini Haider said, " But those who are penalised by today’s order, by definition, can only be those who are accredited and they can be penalised on the basis of a "complaint", not a final decision. I can’t imagine that’s fair, Ma’am."

Responding to the tweet, Smriti Irani clarified that, "Committee comprising of senior officers, representatives of PCI, NBA, IBF set up for regulations/ policy for digital broadcasting & news portals. Till such time the regulation is not implemented rules cannot be enforced for news portals by industry."

The new move by the government on fake news is likely to generate friction between the government and the media. Some senior journalists preferring to speak off the record said that the guidelines have an inherent problem.

The issue is all set to take political overtones as parties have already started attacking the government.

The political advisor to UPA chairperson while welcoming the "attempt to control fake news" on twitter posed 4 questions on the issue

"I appreciate the attempt to control fake news but few questions for my understanding":
1.What is guarantee that these rules will not be misused to harass honest reporters? 2.Who is going to decide what constitutes fake news ? 3. Is it not possible that motivated complaints will be filed to suspend accreditation until enquiry is on? 4.What is guarantee that these guidelines will check fake news or is it an attempt to prevent genuine reporters from reporting news uncomfortable to establishment?"

Elders in the profession said a lot of fake news is kick started and circulated by a sea of media which is out of the main stream. The new rules cover journalists and lays down action against those who are part of the mainstream and are accredited to government entities like the PIB.

However, some senior journalists backed the move by the government.

A senior editor of a newspaper said, "the government is not monitoring or interfering with what a journalist writes or reports. It amounts to lay down the do’s and don’ts for fake news. Those who don’t practice the art don’t have anything to worry. But shouldn’t there be some deterrent against those who circulate and abet fake news which known to have caused communal acrimony and hurt to thousands of individuals."

They say that the stipulation by the ministry that "While examining the requests seeking accreditation, the regulatory agencies will examine whether the `Norms of Journalistic Conduct’ and `Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards’ prescribed by the PCI and NBA respectively are adhered to by the journalists as part of their functioning. It would be obligatory for journalists to abide by these guidelines," the government is merely setting up a mechanism to address fake news problem in the mainstream media.


courtesy:yahoo