Govt plans to monitor news channels, FM radio stations

18 Apr, 2008, 0143 hrs IST,Meenakshi Verma Ambwani & Joji Thomas Philip, TNN NEW DELHI: Big brother wants to not just watch, but watch again, at will.The government has proposed to set up an Electronic Media Monitoring Centre(EMMC) to monitor content of all news channels and FM radio stations. Theproposed centre will perform automated recording of over 100 channelssimultaneously and will provide access to the content for review, in case ofany violation.

Broadcasters are unhappy about the proposed monitoring centre. A seniorexecutive with a general entertainment channel, who spoke on the conditionof anonymity, said, "No bureaucrat or government official has the moralresponsibility to decide what can be shown and what cannot be shown on air.It's like censoring broadcast content just like it does in China." At present, the information & broadcasting (I&B) ministry asks the channelto submit the footage they had aired in case of any violation. The centrewould also help the government archive all content for future reference. According to I&B ministry sources, the EMMC's most important function wouldbe to check violation of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act1995. "Besides keeping a check on the Indian channels, it would address agreater concern, that of keeping a check on the foreign TV channels," said aministry source. Last year, AXN and FTV earned the I&B ministry's flak for'offensive' content and were banned for some time. The standing committee oninformation technology has recommended that in view of the widespreadcomplaints about controversial and offensive content, EMMC should becommissioned in the first quarter of 2008-09. After the formation of the EMMC, the government plans to extend contentmonitoring to private FM channels, DTH and CAS. The EMMC could also look atmonitoring content on the Internet made available by the channels. The I&B ministry had earlier created a draft of the broadcasting bill and acontent code for news broadcasters which earned it the ire of mediacompanies that thwarted the ministry's attempts to table it in theParliament. Last year, the ministry had imposed a ban on AXN for broadcasting shows likeWorld's Sexiest Commercials and later revoked it after the channel assuredit will not screen the content. The government then banned FTV India for amonth on grounds of showing explicit content.

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