The News Broadcasting Standards Authority has fined news channel Aaj Tak Rs 1 lakh for broadcasting false tweets related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput, Living law reported Thursday. The autonomous authority censored the channel and asked it to broadcast an apology, along with Zee News, News 24 and India TV, for affecting the dignity of the deceased.
In its Oct. 6 order, the NBSA said Aaj Tak “failed to conduct the required due diligence before broadcasting the tweets and attributing them” to Rajput. He also said that videos of the same shows, if hosted, on the broadcasters’ website, YouTube, or other links should be removed immediately.
The authority will give the text, date and time of the apology. Aaj Tak must submit proof of compliance with the telecast of the apology on a compact disc within seven days of the broadcast.
The NBSA added that Aaj Tak along with India TV News should apologize for the “egregious violations” of the guidelines and, in particular, for the way the Rajput body images were shown. Other news channels such as Zee News and News 24 will also need to issue apologies in the context of specific shows and tag lines broadcast by the channels. It also issued a warning to News Nation. for showing the Rajput corpse, but released it after the channel showed remorse and said it would not be repeated. ABP Majha was also fired with a warning as the authority noted that the channel did not show close-up photos of the actor’s body.
The authority detained Aaj Tak for his slogan “hit-wicket”, used in the form of a question. “It seems that the questions are directed to Sushant Singh Rajput, who no longer exists, therefore the slogans are offensive, violate privacy and affect the dignity of the deceased.”
In “Patna ka Sushant, Mumbai me fail kyu?” [Why did Patna’s Sushant fail in Mumbai] Tagline run by Zee News, the NSBA noted that it gives the impression that suicide is a failure. “There may be various reasons for the suicide, but the impression created was that a child from a small town committed suicide in a metropolitan city, which was his ‘failure,'” he added.
In the “Hey, why didn’t you see your own movie Sushant?” tagline used by News 24 that referred to the actor’s anti-suicide message in his latest film, Chhichhore, the NSBA said the slogans were “clearly offensive and affect the dignity of the deceased.”
The broadcasting authority recognized that the media have the right to freedom of expression and that the suicide of an actor would become “big news” and discussions about it would give rise to hypotheses. However, he said the media should report these cases without sensationalism.
“While it is the duty of the news channel to report news, which may be in the public interest and the people reported can obtain justice from such media reports, it is equally important to present the news in a way that it does not violate the privacy of the dead or sensationalize a tragic incident. It is important that the dead are not subjected to unnecessary glare from the media ”.
– News Dissemination Standards Authority
The authority also found that Aaj Tak violated its privacy guidelines when reporters broke into Rajput’s home and attempted to interview his father, who was in a state of deep pain. ABP reporters had also reached out to the actor’s cousin sister, he said, adding that the news channel was taken offline because she volunteered to give an interview.
The NBSA is an autonomous body created by the National Broadcasting Association. Rajat Sharma, Editor-in-Chief of India TV, is its chairman and is chaired by former Supreme Court Justice Justice AK Sikri.
In recent months, the actor’s death has dominated television news coverage. Mumbai police said it was a suicide case, but Rajput’s family later filed a complaint with Bihar police accusing his former roommate, Rhea Chakraborty, of complicity in suicide and cheating. Three central agencies – the Central Investigation Office, the Enforcement Directorate, the Narcotics Control Office – took the cases against him.
On September 3, the Bombay High Court asked the news channels to show restraint in reporting on the case. When the matter was raised again in court on September 11, the court expressed surprise that there was no state control over electronic media.
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