Red FM’s slur

IN Media Watch Briefs | 20/10/2007
What was the comment on a FM radio channel that set off mob violence in Siliguri? It has become a media convention to self censor in such cases, so nobody reported either the remark or the name of the offending channel. The channel was Red FM owned by a consortium which includes NDTV, and the remark as reported by IBN-live was that "shopkeepers will now have to make their own security arrangements as Gorkhas have taken to singing." RJ Jonathan Brady’s racist wisecrack has led the I & B Ministry to issue a show cause notice to the channel.  
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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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