[It is really alarming that this piece of vital news that the Union Government is directly taking over the DD news just skipped our attention.
So that's virtually the end of the autonomy of the Prasar Bharati, which had come as a byproduct of the end of the nightmarish Emergency raj, and heralds a new era of much expanded government manipulation of info in public domain, well beyond the plethora of state-funded ads and behind-the-scene arms twisting. The news item at sl. no. III below now looks like an utterly ghastly nasty joke. This blatant attempt to turn the clock (of democracy) back calls for most determined and concerted nationwide protests.] I/III. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/government-takes-over-dd-news/article7261697.ece Updated: May 30, 2015 01:38 IST Government 'takes over' DD News ANURADHA RAMAN Veena Jain appointment raises questions about Centre's intentions In a sudden move, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry announced the appointment of Information Service Officer Veena Jain as Director-General of Doordarshan News on Friday night, in the process, raising questions about the government's intention to control and regulate news on the Public Service Broadcaster. The order announcing Ms. Jain's appointment categorically states, she will report to the Ministry for all purposes. Further to her appointment as Director-General News, Ms. Jain will also hold the dual designation of OSD to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in charge of new media. Ms. Jain takes over from Akshay Rout who was officiating as Director-General News. Ms. Jain's appointment comes in the wake of DD's dwindling viewership and a slump in revenues. Curiously, the order dated May 29, is marked to all media heads and the Department of Personnel, but leaves out the CEO of Prasar Bharati Corporation, the Chairman and the Prasar Bharati Board. Ironically, just before the elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had questioned the autonomy of the Prasar Bharati Corporation following the controversy over editing some portions of the first-ever interview given by the then Prime Minister aspirant. Mr. Modi had even vented his anguish on twitter when he tweeted, "I feel very sad to see our National TV channel struggling to maintain its professional freedom." The terms of Ms. Jain's appointment will be seen in the context of the professional freedom enjoyed by the News Channel of Doordarshan. II/III. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Veena-Jain-named-Doordarshan-DG-asked-to-report-to-IB-ministry/articleshow/47476773.cms Veena Jain named Doordarshan DG, asked to report to I&B ministry Himanshi Dhawan, TNN | May 30, 2015, 02.09AM IST NEW DELHI: The information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry on Friday appointed Veena Jain as director general (news) in Doordarshan in place of Akshay Rout and, in an unusual move, directed her to report directly to the ministry. Jain, an additional secretary rank official, will also hold charge as officer on special duty overseeing the ministry's new media wing and social media cell. The order said Jain was posted as "director general Doordarshan news-cum-OSD in the ministry to handle the new media wing and social media cell. She will report to the ministry for all purposes". DD DG (news) is one of the most influential positions in the public broadcaster. Both DD and AIR are media wings that function under Prasar Bharati. When contacted, I&B secretary Bimal Julka sought to play down the directive asking Jain to report to the ministry. He sought to differentiate between the two roles that Jain has been asked to perform, saying she will continue to report to Prasar Bharati CEO in her role as DG news. "We need a director general level official to supervise the social media and new media wing. This is to help her acclimatize. She will continue to report to the Prasar Bharati CEO as DG news," the I&B secretary said, denying there was any threat to the autonomy of Prasar Bharati. The requirement for Jain, as spelt out in the order, runs contrary to the official stand for giving professional independence to AIR and DD by vesting their oversight in Prasar Bharati which is supposed to be an autonomous entity. Although Prasar Bharati has never enjoyed the professional elbow room sanctioned to it on paper, the order makes even the appearance look suspect. READ ALSO: DD to start weekly 'acche news' show Neither Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar nor chairperson A Surya Prakash were marked a copy of the order. According to rules, while the I&B ministry has the power to transfer and post IIS officials, they are expected to work and report to the Prasar Bharati CEO who is the executive head. The order asking Jain to report directly to the ministry was unusual, sources said. The public broadcaster has always been seen as a government mouthpiece with the editing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interview to DD days before the Lok Sabha election stirring a debate on Prasar Bharati's autonomy. Modi had strongly reacted to parts of the interview being censored. "I feel very sad to see our national TV channel struggling to maintain its professional freedom," he had tweeted on May 3, 2014 on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day. III. http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/javadekar-for-disbanding-i-amp-b-ministry/article1-1227173.aspx Prakash Javadekar for 'disbanding' I-B ministry HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, New Delhi| Updated: Jun 08, 2014 01:40 IST ***Information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar has said that he 'philosophically' and 'ideologically' favoured abolishing his ministry, given Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emphasis of 'less government, more governance'.*** [Emphasis added.] "Philosphically or ideologically, I'll be willing to do that," he said, when asked if India needed an I&B ministry when many major democracies do not have such a profile. Javadekar also suggested he was open to hiring professional editors for Doordarshan and AIR and was also open to discussion with stakeholders on more FDI in media. "I think you are giving a good line for us. But ultimately, when our Prime Minister Narendra Modi says that more governance and less government, so you are actually contributing to the idea of less government and more governance. That's our focus, but to achieve that end you have to follow a process," he said. Javadekar was speaking to Karan Thapar on Headline Today's programme "Nothing but the Truth". Thapar asked Javadekar if he meant that three of four years down the line, he would like to ensure that this (I&B) "ministry ceases to exist". The I&B minister said that as far as the public broadcaster is concerned, there are various models like the BBC and others available which would be studied. Javadekar said he was not in favour of a model where the public broadcaster is accountable to the minister "only". Javadekar said in the years ahead, words like "government-run", "government-controlled" or "government intervention" will be less heard. Former Union minister Manish Tewari had also reportedly said the I&B ministry belonged to a past era. "But I would like that government becomes less and less and freedom and market forces and at the same time social justice is achieved," Javadekar said. Thapar asked Javadekar whether Modi was also "philosophically and ideologically" in agreement with his line of thinking. "Absolutely," Javadekar replied. Javadekar files nomination papers Union minister of state (independent charge) for information and broadcasting, forest and environment, Prakash Javadekar, filed his nomination papers for Rajya Sabha elections on Saturday. Accompanied by his ministerial colleague and state BJP president Narendra Singh Tomar and his wife Prachi Javadekar, Prakash Javadekar filed two sets of nomination papers before the returning officer Bhagwandev Ishrani at the Madhya Pradesh assembly premises in presence of a good number of party leaders. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
