New Delhi: Prasar Bharati has barred officials of state-owned broadcasters Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR) from interacting with the media without its permission. The diktat is among a set of instructions issued last month by Prasar Bharati, the parent body of DD and AIR.
According to the instructions, DD and AIR officials should seek approval from the additional director general (marketing) of the Prasar Bharati Secretariat for any media interaction or press briefing.
Approval will also be required, they add, for other media-related activities, such as on-location shoots, issuing of press releases, or advertisements and hoardings.
While DD and AIR insiders have termed the instructions a “gag order”, Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati defended them, saying the rules were meant to streamline corporate communication at the broadcaster.
“It has come to our notice that random people from both the organisations were talking to the media,” he added.
“In any corporate, communication has to be streamlined and has to follow a proper corporate policy. The advisory issued is part of that. There is nothing unusual about it.”
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‘AIR, DD being stripped of their roles’
Insiders said the instructions were yet another bid to strip the DD and AIR directorates of their core responsibilities.
Decisions regarding the broadcast of sports and commercials, which used to be the preserve of the DD and AIR directorates, has been handled directly by Prasar Bharati over the past few months, causing displeasure among many AIR and DD officials.
“All functioning responsibilities of DD and AIR directorates, such as sports and commercials’ broadcast, have now been taken over by Prasar Bharati, which is trying to create an independent identity of its own, separate from the two broadcasters,” a senior official from DD said.
A second official said that, when it came into existence, Prasar Bharati’s role was to formulate broader policies for AIR and DD.
“But in the last many months, Prasar Bharati has been managing the day-to-day affairs of the two directorates, including transfers and other administrative affairs and also deciding key programming issues, such as which sporting event would have commentary and which would not,” the official added.
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Prasar bharathi is going now in a right direction eith this decision of controlling both AIR and DD officials facing independently and talking to media on its policy matters. It is a correcting measure and real corporate style of functioning. It stream lines the information flow. Pivotal authority will be the only power centre authorised to take policy decisions and empowered officials i.e.designated spokespersons should face the media to communicate to the people. It streangthens the organisation. Totally an appreciable step.