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A
new scare has emerged in the television industry about the
possibility of the current government controlling and muzzling
the media - more specifically television through the Cable
TV Networks (Regulation) Amendment 2002. The Amendment seeks
to hand control of the free to air channel bouquet to the
government, its pricing and its contents location wise.
According to one school of thought, the BJP-led NDA government
has been reeling from a backlash from the media - more specifically
channels such as Star News - which have criticised it for
the manner in which it has dealt with Gujarat and the massacre
of Muslims in the state. Earlier, it had also been hit by
the defence related Tehelka scam and the bad media it got.
Says an observer: "It is quite likely that the government
is pushing through CAS in the manner it is to serve its
own agenda. Television channels are hurting its image. The
government can - if a broadcaster goes against it order
the cable TV operator not to carry a specific channel or
carry it in an unfavourable frequency position so that very
few individuals get to view it. "
The observer asks why can't the Indian government decide
to take the same tack with the print media too. "Does the
government decide the pricing of a newspaper or is it left
to the publishing house," she asks. "And why are cable TV
operators complaining about TV channels hassling them? Don't
publishing houses change the pricing of their newspapers
time to time? Don't they have packages for distributors?
Does the government intervene when they force newspaper
distributors to carry publications as part of a package
at a specific price? Why should it do so for television?
"Cable ops are excited about their getting a chance to get
back at channels (through CAS) who they believe have been
armtwisting them with apparently uncalled for channel subscription
package increases. Broadcasters on their part have been
busy fighting or backing its entry. Consumers don't know
any better.
"Most people are missing the possibility of the government
muzzling the television channels," says the observer. "Maybe
it may not, but there is always the possibility it may."
The ball is over to the Indian government to clarify its
position on the issue.
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