New Delhi: In an unprecedented move, the ministry of information and broadcasting Saturday issued a stern warning to private news channels in the country. Citing specific instances of news channels’ coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war, the ministry said it was a violation of the Programme Code under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act of 1995.
In a strongly worded advisory, the government cited nine specific programmes and instances of Indian news channels’ coverage of the Russia and Ukraine war that started on February 24. Though the ministry did not name the channels, it did name the programme and also specified what was wrong with them. All the nine instances cited by the ministry are related to the way Indian news channels covered the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons by Russia against Ukraine.
The government not only found Indian news channels using scandalous headlines unrelated to the news item but also criticized TV journalists for making unsubstantiated and fabricated claims and using hyperbole in order to incite the audience. For instance, according to the advisory, one news channel aired a news item ‘Ukraine mein Atomi Hadkamp’ on 18th April 2022 during which it mentioned that Russia is planning a nuclear attack on Ukraine.
The government said the channel further sensationalised the situation and mentioned that the attack will happen in the coming few days, adding that the report misquoted international agencies too. The second case is about another channel indulging in war-mongering as it continued to air factless speculations to an extent that had the tendency to infuse fear in the minds of viewers as it claimed that Russia has given a 24 hours deadline for the nuclear attack on Ukraine.
Citing the third example of misreporting on a possible attack on Ukraine, the ministry said a news channel aired baseless sensational news on 18th April 2022 titled ‘Parmanu Putin se pareshan Zelenski’, ‘Parmanu action ki chinta Zelenski ko depression’. “Channel aired several unverified claims misquoting foreign actors and agencies “Official Russian Media clearly states that 3rd World war has started”. The channel even showed footage with false claims that the Russian President is carrying a “Nuclear briefcase” with him,” noted the ministry.
Citing another example, the government said a news channel misreported and made unverified claims on the 19th of April and one such claim was that the US agency CIA believes that Russia will use nuclear weapons on Ukraine. According to the ministry, these are not isolated incidents as some news channels frequently made such sensational claims. For instance, a news channel very frequently made sensational claims of nuclear war as it aired the headline ‘Nuclear Nisana! Hairatangej khulasa world war ka’ on 19th April.
“The channel made several of these exploitative and scandalous ‘war promoting’ claims multiple times,” said the government. The advisory also cited an example of a prominent channel that misguided viewers through misreporting under sensational headlines such as ‘Ukraine se Putin ka parmanu plan taiyar?’, ‘Parmanu Hamla hona tay hai?’ which was aired on 19th April, 2022. “The channel frequently uses such misleading and unrelated taglines in its reporting,” it said.
The MIB said that one channel was found running a sensational speculative commentary on the active conflict during prime time as the said channel used fabricated headlines such as 'Atom bomb girega? Teesra vishwayudh shuru hoga?' on 19th April, 2022. The government said a channel misguided viewers with ‘unverified and incorrect news’ on the war. Citing an unverified and incorrect news item titled: ‘Mariupol Finished! Full and final’ on 20th April, 2022, the ministry said anchors of many of these channels talk in hyperbole and make factually wrong comments even misquoting other sources.
The ministry said one channel aired fabricated pictures last week claiming to be the proof of the upcoming Nuclear attack on Ukraine. “This completely speculative news story seems to be intending to misguide the viewers and arouse psychological upheavals inside them. The show is titled 'Ye Raat Kayamat Wali Hai?' aired on 20th April 2022,” the ministry said in its advisory.
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