NDTVIndia to go off air

IN Media Watch Briefs | 03/11/2016

News18.com reports that an  Inter-ministerial committee  set up by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has recommended that NDTV India  be taken off air for a day for having revealed "strategically-sensitive" details while covering the Pathankot terrorist attack. The date set for this penalty is November 9. This is likely to be  the first order against a broadcaster over its coverage of terrorist attacks. The coverage apparently revealed sensitive information about ammunition stockpiles, planes, rocket launchers and so on.            

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The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.                   

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.                 

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