Freedom of the press is one of the biggest tenets of democracy. Media may go overboard at times but no one can deny that it is playing a crucial role in exposing the darker underbelly of Indian bureaucratism and politics today. But not Prasar Bharati, the national public broadcaster of India behind Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR) and government stooge.
Even as the public broadcaster faces ridicule for its incompetence, outdated journalism and bureaucratic red tape, the government plans to pump in funds amounting to ₹21.80 billion to turnaround the sharp decline of the “autonomous” body. It’s just another sinkhole for taxpayer’s money, if you ask me.
Like various other government projects, Prasar Bharati is suffering from the consequences of bureaucratic mismanagement, lack of leadership, and political intervention. Prasar Bharati’s Board chairperson Mrinal Pande was openly vocal about it at the inaugural meet of the Sam Pitroda expert committee set up to revive Prasar Bharati. He slammed the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B), blaming “intricate circles of bureaucratic power” for the broadcaster’s current state.
Didn’t Ajay Shukla, hired from a private TV channel to head DD’s primetime program News Night quit the very day after he subjected BJP’s Tarun Vijay to some hard questions? Is this the “autonomy” the government wants to protect? If so, isn’t this corruption of media?
Minister Manish Tewari admitted that two thirds of the I&B ministry’s budget (almost ₹18.85 billion out of ₹28 billion) goes to Prasar Bharati. The Ministry is the recruiting, disciplinary, and sanctioning authority of the broadcaster and the government is the largest advertizer on DD and AIR. Obviously, the broadcaster cannot bite the very hand that feeds it.
Minister Tewari made no attempt to disguise the government’s intention to leverage Prasar Bharati heavily to generate wide-spread awareness of government schemes for the welfare of people. Nothing wrong with that but will Prasar Bharati have a free hand in picking and choosing subjects? It’s doubtful.
As it is, Prasar Bharati is losing audiences in rural and urban areas where alternative media channels are available, thanks to DTH. That’s not to say that other media channels are top quality but at least they’re on the ball.
Pitroda’s expert committee may make umpteen plans to leverage social media, recruit new talent, and leverage a new business model for Prasar Bharati to become profitable but that’s not going to happen. With the government calling the shots, what are the chances that Prasar Bharati’s prospects will improve? Not unless TRAI’s recommendation is implemented – bar Union and State governments and their owned companies from the business of broadcasting and distributing television channels.
People are not fools. DD and AIR are not losing out because of outdated content alone. They are simply not trusted as reliable sources. Unless Prasar Bharati manages to break out of the government’s stronghold, no amount of funds is going to change its story.
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Good information. However when you’re putting figures in an article you should be consistent in using the format.
“₹2,180 crore” at one place, while “Rs 18.85 billion” at another. That’s a very casual attitude towards data collection/analysis. Hope you take this constructively.
machnthanks for pointing it out. updated the post.