(Disclaimer: This content has been compiled by the students
of the Department of Journalism, LSR. These notes are to be used purely for
academic purposes. No copyright infringement intended. The blogger will not be
responsible in any manner whatsoever, regarding the authenticity of the
information/ opinions of students expressed in this piece.)
On Wednesday, August 18, 2021, in continuation of
the Mentor-Mentee Programme under the aegis of Dr. Vartika Nanda, a combined
class for the Batch of 2022 and 2023 was undertaken. A group of five students
of the Batch of 2022 took the initiative to conduct a presentation on the topic
'Public Service Broadcasting Model in India'.
The objective of the combined class was to provide
all students a platform to gain a better understanding of the topic and open a
forum to discuss and take queries of the students on the same.
A detailed presentation was followed by a
discussion and feedback session for the students. The Batch of 2023 was also
provided with documentary resources and other reading material on the
topic.
The following are the reading notes from the
presentation.
INTRODUCTION
- What is Public Service Broadcasting?
Public broadcasting involves radio, television and
other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. In many
countries of the world, funding comes from governments, especially via annual
fees charged on receivers. Public broadcasting may be nationally or locally
operated, depending on the country and the station. In some countries a single
organization runs public broadcasting. Other countries have multiple
public-broadcasting organizations operating regionally or in different
languages. Historically, public broadcasting was once the dominant or only form
of broadcasting in many countries (with the notable exception of the United
States). Commercial broadcasting now also exists in most of these countries;
the number of countries with only public broadcasting declined substantially
during the latter part of the 20th century.Public-sector media (state-funded)
is not to be confused with state media (state-controlled), which is
"controlled financially and editorially by the state."
The primary mission of public broadcasting is that
of public service, speaking to and engaging as a citizen.The British model has
been widely accepted as a universal definition.The model embodies the following
principles:
- Universal geographic accessibility
- Universal appeal
- Attention to minorities
- Contribution to national identity and sense of community
- Distance from vested interests
- Direct funding and universality of payment
- Competition in good programming rather than numbers
- Guidelines that liberate rather than restrict
- PSB IN INDIA: Prasar Bharati
The Prasar Bharati is an autonomous body
established under the Prasar Bharati Act of 1997. The company runs the numerous
channels of Doordarshan, the public service broadcaster of the country as well
DD News, the news channel. Though autonomous in nature, the Company comes
directly under the regulation of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
Government of India. The website of the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, Government of India clearly states that - “the Ministry overviews
matters relating to All India Radio and Doordarshan through the Prasar Bharati
(Broadcasting Corporation of India Act),1990 which includes regulation of the
use of All India Radio and Doordarshan by recognised national and regional
political parties during elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies” – a
not-so-veiled admission that the autonomy is just there in letter, not in
spirit.
ORIGIN OF PRASAR BHARTI
The Prasar Bharati came into existence under an Act
enacted by the Vishwanath Pratap Singh-led United Front government in 1990, to
decouple the two state broadcasters – Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR)
from the influence of the government of the day. Those were the heady days of
“independence of media” – as for the first time since freedom from the British,
the state broadcasters would have been in no obligation to toe the government
line. And finally, the people of the country can have access to news and views
unmoderated by the government of the day. But soon came private satellite news
television, beaming news from everywhere in the country – unmoderated, free and
completely independent. Soon the “independence” of Doordarshan and AIR was not
relevant anymore. And so, though Prasar Bharati stayed on as an autonomous
body, the control, in spirit, quietly slipped back to the government. Today, it
is widely perceived that DD News, from Prasar Bharati, is the balancing factor
for propagating government views, in the face of onslaught of private news
broadcasters who would not leave an opportunity to criticize the
government.
CONTENT AND REACH OF PRASAR BHARTI
Prasar Bharati is mandated to provide content that
serves the human development needs of India’s opportunity-deprived population.
Therefore, a substantial part of its programming relates to education, health,
agriculture, women’s issues and so on.
However, the share of commercial entertainment in
DD’s content pie has been growing in recent years due to a need for advertising
revenue. Most of DD’s content is outsourced while AIR generates most in-house.
Prasar Bharati’s radio and television arms have
phenomenal reach and penetration. AIR has a reach of 99.2% of the country’s 1.3
billion population. DD, with its 1,416 terrestrial transmitters, has a
potential reach of 90% of the population. However, both arms of the public
broadcaster are plagued by lacklustre programming, which is the primary reason
for its falling numbers of listeners and viewers. According to a 2014
government-sponsored report, DD’s viewership was down to just 8% of the
television-viewing audience, with even poor rural households having mostly switched
to satellite television.
Prasar Bharati’s radio and television arms have
phenomenal reach and penetration. AIR has a reach of 99.2% of the country’s 1.3
billion population. DD, with its 1,416 terrestrial transmitters, has a
potential reach of 90% of the population. However, both arms of the public
broadcaster are plagued by lacklustre programming, which is the primary reason
for its falling numbers of listeners and viewers. According to a 2014
government-sponsored report, DD’s viewership was down to just 8% of the
television-viewing audience, with even poor rural households having mostly
switched to satellite television.
The only times DD and AIR witness a spike in
audience are when they broadcast big-ticket events such as cricket matches or the
prime minister’s popular monthly radio address to the nation, Mann Ki Baat.
However, AIR scores over the private radio players in the country’s remote
areas where FM signals do not have sufficient penetration.
Important Committees of Prasar Bharati
- CHANDA COMMITTEE (1964).
The chanda Committee was formed in 1964 when Indira
Gandhi was the Information and broadcast (I&B) minister under the
chairmanship of A. K. Chanda.
The report was submited in 1967.
Their recommendation included separationn of
Television and Radio units, which resulted in the separation of AIR and
Doordarshan.
It also recommended that programs Related to
national interest must be broadcasted on a priority basis.
- VERGHESE COMMITTEE (1978).
The Janta Government had appointed a working
group on the autonomy of the Akashwani and Doordarshan in August 1977.
The chairman of this Committee was B.G.Verghese
The Committee submitted its report on February
24th, 1978.
This Committee main recommendation was formation of
Akash Bharati or the National Broadcasting Trust, both for the AIR and
Doordarshan.
- P.C. JOSHI COMMITTEE (1982).
Congress appointed P.C Joshi Committee in
1982, whose main term of reference was to prepare a software plan for
Doordarshan.
This group also emphasized on the absence of
'Function at Freedom’ in Prasar Bharati.
The issue of autonomy was also considered by the
Sarkaria Cominission (1987). From the different opinions gathered from various
state governments and the intelligentsia in all parts of the country, the
commission established that there was too much of political interference in the
working of the electronic media.
Prasar Bharati Act, 1990
The twin objectives of the Prasar Bharati
(Broadcast Corporation of India) Act of 1990 are crystallised in Section 12 of
the law. Section 12 (3)(a) mandates that Prasar Bharati ensure that
“broadcasting is conducted as a public service.” Again, Section 12 (3)(b)
reinforces that the purpose of establishing the corporation is to gather news,
not propaganda.
Legal Precedence
The Act came into existence after decades of
post-independence struggle to free broadcasting from the stranglehold of the
government. The legislative intent of the Act finds an echo in the Supreme
Court’s 1995 judgment in The Secretary, Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting versus the Cricket Association of Bengal, which said the “first
facet of the broadcasting freedom is freedom from state or governmental
control, in particular from the censorship by the government... Public
broadcasting is not to be equated with state broadcasting. Both are distinct.”
The Prasar Bharati Corporation’s main objective is to provide autonomy to
Doordarshan and Akashvani in order to “educate and entertain the public.”
Past Efforts towards Establishment
The efforts for an autonomous broadcasting
corporation can be traced to the post-Emergency B.G. Verghese Committee, which
recommended the formation of Akash Bharati or the National Broadcast Trust for
All India Radio and Doordarshan. The panel, in its February 1978 report,
highlighted the need for a fiercely unbiased and independent corporation as
“the executive, abetted by a captive Parliament, shamelessly misused the
Broadcasting during Emergency.” The next year, Information and Broadcasting Minister
L.K. Advani proposed a Bill for an autonomous corporation called Prasar Bharati
for AIR and Doordarshan. But the Bill lapsed. Once the Janata Party imploded
and Indira Gandhi came back in power, the Congress government appointed the
P.C. Joshi Committee in 1982, with a narrow mandate of evaluating the
programming of Doordarshan. The committee emphasised the lack of functional
freedom in Doordarshan and said the “Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
should be reorganised and a separate board, on the lines of the Railway Board,
should be created, in which only people with professional experience should get
entry.” The Prasar Bharati Bill was passed in 1990. The Prasar Bharati Act was
eventually implemented in 1997.
Role and Importance of Autonomous Prasar Bharati
Public service broadcasting (PSB) has
an important role to play in providing access to
and participation in public life. Especially in developing countries, PSB
can be instrumental in promoting access to education and culture, developing
knowledge, and fostering interactions among
citizens. For the majority of the world
population, comprising inhabitants of huge rural areas and illiterate
people, radio and television remain the most available and
widespread ICTs, with radio in the
first place as primary communication medium,”
(Banerjee and Sevaniratne, 2005)
The need to protect the autonomous identity of
Prasar Bharati Corporation was highlighted by its chairman, A. Surya Prakash,
in a recent interview with The Hindu. Mr. Prakash alleged that the 1990 Act was
being treated with “utter contempt.” For example, he referred to a Ministry
directive that the Secretary, I&B, would appraise the Prasar Bharati CEO.
Another directive wants the Prasar Bharati to get rid of contractual employees.
That Prasar Bharati is an autonomous corporation is evident in Section 4. The
Chairman and the other Members — except the ex-officio members, the nominated
member and the elected members — shall be appointed by the President on the
recommendation of a committee. The government has no part in the appointment.
The Act points out that the CEO would be under the “control and supervision” of
the Board and not the Central government.
Governmental Reins
The Centre still holds the reins of Prasar Bharati
as it has the power to make rules for the corporation, issue grants or
allowances and control the salaries of employees.
Section 22 gives the Centre powers to issue
directions which it “may think necessary in the interests of the sovereignty,
unity and integrity of India or the security of the State or preservation of
public order” to not broadcast “any matter of public importance”.
On the context of what true autonomy means for a
broadcasting corporation, the Supreme Court has referred to a ruling by the
German Constitutional Court, which said that “freedom from State control
requires the legislature to frame some basic rules to ensure that government is
unable to exercise any influence over the selection, content or scheduling of
programmes”.
Issues with PSB
- Autonomy.
autonomy regarding
content has been a question of its constitutionality. Even in
the Verghese Working Group Report the recommended
Trust was to be given autonomy guaranteed
by an amendment to the constitution. But it
is worth pondering whether this autonomy falls within
the purview of our Fundamental Rights. Article 19, 1(a) of the
constitution guarantees freedom of thought and expression though with
caveat clauses. This is the right under which the Press guards its freedom.
Broadcasting as a defined therefore can also be included within its ambit, as
it is also a form of expression. Looking at it from the other side it should be
right of every individual to have access to varying opinions. This has not yet
taken place in case of Broadcasting as in the case of Press because not much
litigation has taken place regarding the issue.
- Commercialization.
With the onset of
commercialization of air space many radio stations and television channels have
cropped up whose programming motive is centred round Television Rating Points.
Also they operate in a profit-maximizing structure. These channels bank on homogeneity
of content which is expected to have mass appeal and hence larger viewer base.
An argument may be that is there is mass viewing then that is what the public
requires, but in an environment where the viewer is at the receiving end and
has practically no say in the content creation the above argument proves
shallow. It is somehow a vicious circle, that at one end the suppliers are
choosing the content and then reviewing the public in what
they find best out of whatever is being
provided, and then defending the perpetuation of such a program on the
basis that it is well received by the masses. This kind of programming does not
help in educating or enlightening the viewers. Though it should not be
concluded that television for masses and television of quality are mutually
exclusive examples are shows like Satyamev Jayate
FUNDING AND INDEPENDENCE
Prasar Bharati is funded primarily by the state and
does not earn any licence fee. It generates some revenue of its own, although
this falls far short of its budgetary needs. For example, in 2016-17, the
government’s grant to Prasar Bharati was INR3156 crore (CHF488.3 million). The
same year, the total revenue earned by DD and AIR was only INR1282 crore
(CHF198.4 million). In recent months, there has been a proposal to corporatise
Prasar Bharati and this could have an impact on the broadcaster’s funding
model.
While the law grants full autonomy to the public
broadcaster, its board needs the approval of the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting on matters such as new projects, recruitment, creation of new
posts, and sale or mortgage of assets. This has sometimes led to friction
between the board and the government, over alleged undue interference. Other
concerns such as members of the board being political appointees and the top
bosses of both DD and AIR being senior bureaucrats, have been raised.
ALL INDIA RADIO
All India Radio (AIR), officially known since 1956
as Akashvani (Voice from the sky) is the national public radio broadcaster of
India and is a Division of Prasar Bharati.
It was established in 1936.
AIR is the largest radio network in the world, and
one of the largest Broadcasting organizations in the world in terms of the
number of languages broadcast and the spectrum of Socio economic and cultural
diversity it seems.
AIR home service comprises 420 stations located
across the country, reaching nearly 92% of the country’s area and 99.19% of the
total population.
AIR originates programming in 23 languages and 179
dialects.
DOORDARSHAN
Doordarshan is an autonomous Public Service
Broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Broadcasting
Ministry of India and One of Prasar Bharati’s two divisions.
It was established on 15th September 1959.
DD which also broadcasts on digital terrestrial
transmitters provides, Television Radio, online and mobile service throughout
metropolitan and regional India and overseas through the Indian Network and
Radio India.
Since Private TV channels, were authorised in 1991,
Doordarshan has experienced a steep decline in viewership.
CONCLUSION
The way Public Service Broadcasting has been taken
up in the country leaves room for much improvement in the spheres of Content
and Control. Though the third sphere of financing does influence the broadcast
it should not be considered the biggest impediment, this is said citing the
example of PSBT. In the 21st Century with technology capable of taking
information to the remotest part of the country the debate of Public
Service Broadcasting becomes a necessity. If we are to develop as a
democratic nation we should make renewed efforts at making the concept
viable.
As we have seen India has to bank on its sole
Public Broadcaster, Prasar Bharti, for these purposes and though it has the
advantage of reach it is plagued by issues of autonomy from government control.
On the other side there are private broadcasters who
have commercial disposition towards programming
with elements of Public Service Broadcasting here and there.
To forward an idea of a completely independent organization which
chooses its content in the best interests of the public and is neither
controlled nor financed by the government would be a utopian conception which
would not be practically viable in today. Thus what is needed is an
organization which is established with a mandate of Public Service Broadcasting
in partnership with the government. Government’s
role will similar to that which it plays
in PSBT, of making available its reach to the corporation and
giving it autonomy with regard to content. Also such an organization
would eliminate the monopoly of the government over Public Service
Broadcasting. Such an organization which is representative of the people will
help them in their right to free and fair information.
Video Links for reference:
- https://youtu.be/ac11QPMQZ1Q
- Prasar
Bharati at 20: https://youtu.be/T3WYirXIqrU
- History
of Doordarshan Documentary: https://youtu.be/oxtRxWcKqc8
- Latest
Technological Additions to DD: https://youtu.be/rUiATGkilIk
References:
- https://india.mom-rsf.org/en/owners/companies/detail/company/company/show/prasar-bharati/
- https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/what-is-the-prasar-bharati-act-all-about/article23034668.ece
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316918152_Development_of_Public_Service_Broadcasting_in_India_Roles_Challenges_and_Possibilities
Written, Compiled and Edited by:
Arya Krishnan
Deepika Saini
Parvathy
Samridhi Chugh
Shivangi Chopra
Batch of 2022
B.A. (Hons.) Journalism
Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi