Centre must bring in single law to govern media: Press Council
Swati.Mathur@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:

The Press Council of India, the watchdog for print media in India, has informed its members that it has resolved to recommend to the Union government to make “suitable amendments” to the existing Press Council Act, 1978 “to include electronic media, news channels, e-papers, social media etc under one legislation”.

The letter, sent out to PCI members on September 29, says that the decision to recommend a ‘Media Council’ was in continuation of the council’s belief that “when the print media has a watchdog in the PCI, in the opinion of the council, clearly, something parallel is advisable for the entire media”, including newspapers and periodicals in print or other form, e-newspapers, news portals, social media “and any other platforms of news dissemination besides electronic media”.

In this regard, PCI has said it has “resolved to convey to the government the recommendations of the Council to enact a single legislation so as to include all the aforesaid media in line of the Press Council Act 1978”. A proposal to recommend a Media Council has been under discussion at the Press Council since 2015, where it has pitched for the expanding its remit in light of the “spurt in electronic/online media platforms”.

The suggestion of a single legislation to govern all media — print, electronic and digital —has, however, triggered some concerns within sections of PCI members over the fate of the existing council, and the implications for the print media, if a “new” overarching Media Council is proposed. A member TOI spoke to also raised concerns over the “perils of empowering the government” to “control” the print media.