Censoring 'reality' ? : ARTICLE

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Posted: 14 years ago

Censoring 'reality'?

The government wants to set up a censor board across TV channels. But are the channels ready?

Soumyadipta Banerjee

In the wake of the I&B ministry order to channels of changing timings of controversial TV shows, the government is now gearing up to put into place a Censor Board that will monitor all shows on the channels.
"Right now, the channels themselves decide what to air and what not to air. We have to put into place a system that monitors content on television. The issue of censorship on television had been dragging on for quite some time now. It's time to put it to an end," says a source from the I&B ministry.
As a TV channel moved court against the government, the government too is apparently gearing up for a fitting reply to stop 'obscene' content being aired on television.
"The term 'obscene' is very subjective. But we will have to work out a system where there will be a body to decide what is obscene and what is not. The government will have to get a Bill passed in Parliament if we can't arrive at a conclusion," adds the source.
Senior officials from channels said that most of them are against the government move of putting up a body to censor channels. Officials and sources from channels like Colors, Zee, Star etc said that they are willing to discuss the issue before agreeing to anything.
"It is not the question of whether we agree to it or not. If it is a law, then we will agree to everything. But right now, the government wants to decide what should be aired on channels. Don't you think that it is a draconian diktat?" asked a CEO of a GEC channel.
The channels have decided to discuss the issue with the ministry separately even as officials from Colors were camping in Delhi to sort out the issue. "We are all in Delhi to discuss the issue or sort out the matter. We have also agreed to make two versions of the reality show (Bigg Boss). The more saucier version can be shifted to the 11pm slot while a relatively cleaner version can be aired on prime time (9pm). We don't want any censorship on us," said a source from Colors.
It has been learned that Colors moved against the government in the Bombay High Court and has got a stay order against the I&B ministry's order of shifting its reality show from 9pm to 11pm. The High Court will now decide whether the government order was justified.
s_banerjee@dnaindia.net