A series of papers that discusses various aspects of media regulation

By Ammu Joseph

Is it necessary to regulate the broadcast media? Should citizens have a stake in deciding what kind of regulation is most suitable? What is the best model to emulate?

This backgrounder (1) is compiled by Siddharth Narrain (2), with contributions from Rohan Saha and Nikhila Reddy, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. And inputs from Ammu Joseph

A detailed examination of the existing legal framework that applies to various broadcast technologies currently in use in India

Compiled by Siddharth Narrain

The judgment in The Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting v Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) articulated the important principle that the broadcasting media should be under the control of the public as distinct from government

Compiled by Siddharth Narrain

Books, paintings, and films have at various times been hauled before the courts for portraying obscenity, and courts have had to rule on how far the right to freedom of speech and expression extends

Compiled by Nikhila Reddy

After the controversy following the 2004 general elections, rules were formed about political advertisements on TV and cable networks

Compiled by Siddharth Narrain

Judgments on two ‘sting operations’ by television channels have clarified when and under what circumstances such operations can be allowed

Compiled by Rohan Saha

An update of the recommendations and consultation papers by the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) on issues such as private FM radio, ownership of broadcasting activities, provision of IPTV services and headend-in-the-sky and mobile television services

By Anosh Malekar

Boa Senior, the last speaker of a language called Bo -- one of the ten Great Andamanese languages -- died last week in Port Blair. She was aged around 85. With her death, the language that may have constituted the sixth language family in India has become extinct

By Aritra Bhattacharya

Films and videos that chronicle the peaceful resistance of people to powerful industrial and political interests that seek to dispossess them are extremely important at a time when all such dissent is criminalised. But they are often lost in the long list of films that seek to do just the opposite

By Darryl D’Monte

The North-South divide on climate change is very marked. An international congress of journalists held in New Delhi in October 2009 discussed how reporting on the issue could help clinch an agreement at the all-important Copenhagen meet in December

By Zofeen T Ebrahim

Radio Khyber is among the four radio stations in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas started by the federal government in 2006 to counter militant propaganda and stem their growing influence in the region. And, a growing number of voices being heard over the air belong to women who have defied tradition and are working to demolish stereotypes in the area

By Papri Sri Raman

Positive +, a free bilingual newspaper brought out on a laptop from Asma Naseer’s living room is India’s first newspaper on HIV/AIDS. The paper’s commitment to building up a friendship with the reader and its innovative design have made it popular in and around Chennai where it already faces a demand for more copies than the 5000 it can afford to print

By Hemangini Gupta

To what extent did the media help – and hinder – the Pink Chaddi campaign against moral policing in Karnataka and initiatives that followed, such as Fearless Karnataka/Nirbhaya Karnataka?

By Dr Mira K Desai

As the various branches of the media industry have grown and become more popular and hugely lucrative, the education and training of media professionals to meet the growing demand has become crucial. Yet, as this analysis shows, though there has been an explosion of private training and education institutes, they are more interested in ‘placing’ their students than in equipping them with the complex skills necessary to do a good job as a media professional

By Dr Mira K Desai

Media courses in India come in a bewildering variety of nomenclatures, and are subject to differing standards of accreditation and course curricula

By Rashme Sehgal

NDTV Group Editor Barkha Dutt counters charges of insensitive, invasive and excessive coverage of the Mumbai attacks on 26/11

By Hemangini Gupta

There's a community video revolution happening in rural India, and it’s no longer tokenism. Video newsmagazines are made, distributed and screened regularly and professionally. They’re even streaming online at a website called Channel 19

As Indian TV serials finally get away from kitchen politics to tell stories set in real social milieus, Gajra Kottary, writer of the hugely popular Balika Vadhu, points out what it takes to make a serial about a serious social issue like child marriage click with rural and urban audiences

Far from “encouraging” child marriage as some politicians feel, Balika Vadhu is the rare serial that induces audiences to engage intellectually with social conflicts, albeit on an entertainment platform, says Sanjay Ranade

The recent controversy over the TV programme Sach ka Samna has led to renewed calls for regulation of the broadcast media. P N Vasanti who was involved in drawing up self-regulation guidelines for the broadcasting sector for the I&B ministry, explains the content of the guidelines which, she says, could have addressed the current issues. Instead, it has been put into cold storage

Indrajit Gupta comments on two bizarre articles in the press on the Shiny Ahuja rape allegations

The media’s positive reaction to the overturning of Section 377, and the debates it initiated across the public spectrum, gave the LGBT issue a much needed airing and buttressed the enlightened ruling of the Delhi High Court, says Siddharth Narrain

Several studies suggest that viewing violence on screen prompts aggressive behaviour in children. Parental control of TV viewing and responsibility on the part of programmers is urgently required but there is surprisingly little debate or action on this issue, says clinical psychologist Malavika Kapur

By Siddharth Narrain

Does the media – particularly the broadcast media -- need regulation, and if so, of what kind? India TV’s recent rejection of the Broadcasting Standards Disputes Redressal Authority ruling, and the proposal by the home minister of Karnataka of a state-appointed media ombudsman, show just how perilous is the path to regulation

By Darryl D'Monte

Did the media – and indeed all the economic gurus – miss the telltale signs of the impending financial meltdown? The Asia Media Forum in Bangkok recently analysed media in the time of crisis

Calling someone by a diminutive such as “boy” or “little” is a way of one race subjugating another. Calling a land a “new world” is a way of wiping out its history and prior identity. The media has inherited many of the assumptions and attitudes of the colonialists, with naming often taking on specific class and gender contours, says Sharmila Joshi