Putting away a controversial move by the I&B ministry to gag TV News Channels. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday assured that nothing would be finalised without "the widest possible consultation with all the stakeholders and eliciting their different points of view on the proposed changes".
TV editors welcomed the assurance and said they were looking forward to the complete withdrawal of the issue.
In a "throwback to the Emergency" the ministry sought to curtail freedom of the press by proposing a regulation that would make it mandatory for news channels to show authorized feed in the event of designated emergencies.
With opposition parties adopting the media cause as their own, the move attracted widespread criticism for the proposed amendments to the Cable Network Regulations Act.
Channel representatives met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and BJP leader LK Advani on Tuesday.
News editors continued to receive unanimous support from Prakash Karat (CPM), the Amar Singh (SP) and Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP).
Advani said that the proposed curbs, which could be prone to misuse, should not be imposed by the government, but added that it was imperative that TV channels evolved a code of self-regulation to ensure that anti-national elements and terrorists were not able to take advantage of the freedom of media in the country.
The News Broadcasters Association has already evolved a detailed code of self-regulation.
Amar Singh said, "I personally believe there should be a provision that can prevent enemy nations from accessing sensitive information pertaining to the national interest. This could be an issue of debate. However the kind of provision the government has proposed in its note sent to the cabinet secretariat can violate freedom of the press."
The CPM cautioned the UPA government against taking any "hasty" steps to regulate content in the electronic media and said it was necessary to have "co-regulation" through an independent body. In a letter, the CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said until then, no steps should be taken to empower the government and the administration to regulate news channels.
Speaking in support of the news channels, Paswan said, "We are not in favour of giving such power to bureaucrats. I feel news channels are capable of regulating themselves."
TV editors welcomed the assurance and said they were looking forward to the complete withdrawal of the issue.
In a "throwback to the Emergency" the ministry sought to curtail freedom of the press by proposing a regulation that would make it mandatory for news channels to show authorized feed in the event of designated emergencies.
With opposition parties adopting the media cause as their own, the move attracted widespread criticism for the proposed amendments to the Cable Network Regulations Act.
Channel representatives met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and BJP leader LK Advani on Tuesday.
News editors continued to receive unanimous support from Prakash Karat (CPM), the Amar Singh (SP) and Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP).
Advani said that the proposed curbs, which could be prone to misuse, should not be imposed by the government, but added that it was imperative that TV channels evolved a code of self-regulation to ensure that anti-national elements and terrorists were not able to take advantage of the freedom of media in the country.
The News Broadcasters Association has already evolved a detailed code of self-regulation.
Amar Singh said, "I personally believe there should be a provision that can prevent enemy nations from accessing sensitive information pertaining to the national interest. This could be an issue of debate. However the kind of provision the government has proposed in its note sent to the cabinet secretariat can violate freedom of the press."
The CPM cautioned the UPA government against taking any "hasty" steps to regulate content in the electronic media and said it was necessary to have "co-regulation" through an independent body. In a letter, the CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said until then, no steps should be taken to empower the government and the administration to regulate news channels.
Speaking in support of the news channels, Paswan said, "We are not in favour of giving such power to bureaucrats. I feel news channels are capable of regulating themselves."
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