http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=78688
INDIA: Media forum seeks public debate on broadcast Bill Network of Women In Media calls upon the I&B ministry to make legislation process 'transparent and inclusive' Times of India Wednesday, September 26, 2007 New Delhi --- Contending that the proposed broadcast Bill and draft content code in the present form do not meet standards of the world's most populous democracy, the Network of Women In Media (NWMI) has called upon the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry to initiate a public debate on media regulation. In a statement, NWMI questioned I&B minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi's claim that only the broadcast media was against the regulatory authority. "Several independent and informed commentators have expressed their reservations about the Bill as well as the nature of the authority outlined in it. Many have also argued against the draft code and for professional, ethics based self-regulation," the statement said. The forum urged the ministry to place the responses received from the draft documents on its website so that drafting the legislation was a transparent and inclusive process. Asserting that the first step towards media regulation was creating an independent regulator, NWMI said the authority must be empowered with a clear mandate and guaranteed autonomy. While sharing the widespread public concern over the functioning of sections of the media in recent times, the Network added that "knee-jerk reactions to media malpractices" did not bode well for media regulation in a democracy." The regulation of mass media in public interest must maintain the necessary complex and delicate balance between the market and the state so that neither can interfere with freedom of expression and thereby prevent media from serving the public," the statement said. Date Posted: 9/26/2007
