Significant miss

IN Media Watch Briefs | 01/03/2016

In the spades of coverage that the FM’s rural focus in the Union Budget got, a significant aspect was almost entirely un-commented on, with one exception. Who was much of this rural spending going to be channeled through? It took an economist-turned-journalist-turned finance minister to point out that the Rs 2.87 lakh crore as grant in aid to panchayats and municipalities meant a fiscal devolution of almost 15 per cent of the Union Budget to panchayats. An unprecedented empowerment step. This was former J &K fin-min Haseeb Drabu in Mint.

Subscribe To The Newsletter

Media Watch Briefs

Amazon resisting voluntary censorship

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.

Let the games begin

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.