New Delhi: An independent "media industry body" that upholds global standards of professional broadcasting and journalistic fairness is urgently needed in India, Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose said on Tuesday. Making a Zero Hour mention in the Rajya Sabha, the journalist-turned-politician also said that national broadcaster Doordarshan should be made "truly world class" to project India's "vibrant democracy rooted in diversity and pluralism". "Today, an independent media industry body that upholds global standards of professional broadcasting and journalistic fairness is urgently needed," Ghose, the deputy leader of TMC in Rajya Sabha, said. "The model of advertising-funded television news is rapidly imploding, and therefore it is for this reason that the media is engaging in character assassination. The media is engaging in a witch hunt against individuals, and the media is engaging in hate..." she said.
Ghose said she has served as a member of the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (now known as News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority), adding that it lacked teeth and statutory power. She referred to the case related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput without naming him, and said, "Four years ago, news channels ran a motivated campaign against a film actor. Today, that film actor has been proven innocent. "Today, all those accusations have been revealed as baseless, but who will give back to Miss Rhea Chakraborty those years of humiliation that she endured at the hands of the media. "The question arises, how can news media channels be made more responsible and accountable? Media owners will soon be called out on the floor of Parliament. Rogue anchors are a disgrace to journalism," she said, and also stressed on making Doordarshan "world class". "New media technologies are shrinking the world. India's unique identity as a vibrant democracy rooted in diversity and pluralism is an asset to the international order and needs to be projected on the global stage," she said. "This can only happen if our national broadcaster Doordarshan aspires to become truly world class... Doordarshan can play this role, but for this it needs top class modern content and management. Seven decades after independence, India deserves a truly world class public broadcaster as envisaged in the 1990 Prasar Bharti Act," she said.
She also alleged that there are reports that Doordarshan "has entered into a lucrative contract with a private individual who indulges in a deeply divisive and incendiary and hate-mongering language on television, and who has faced two jail terms on criminal charges of extortion". Without taking any names, she said, "It is highly disturbing to note that individuals with these terribly tainted records can become part of our proud national broadcaster. "I've been a journalist for 35 years, and it's tragic to see the trivialisation and character assassination and sensationalism that is today practiced in television news," she added.