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Broadcast
on
All
India
Radio by individuals will not permit:
1.
Criticism of friendly countries;
2.
Attack on religions or communities;
3.
Anything obscene or defamatory;
4.
Incitement to violence or anything against maintenance of law & order
5.
Anything amounting to contempt of court;
6.
Aspersions against the integrity of the President, Governors and the
Judiciary.
7.
Attack on a political party by name;
8.
Hostile criticism of any State or the Center;
9.
Anything showing disrespect to the Constitution or advocating change in
the Constitution by violence; but advocating changes in a constitutional
way should not be debarred.
10.
Appeal for funds except for the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund,
at a time of External Emergency or if the Country is faced with a
natural calamity such a floods, earthquake or cyclone.
11.
Direct publicity for or on behalf of an individual or organization which
is likely to benefit only that individual or organization.
12.
Trade names in broadcasts which amount to advertising directly (except
in Commercial Services).
Footnote :
1.
The code applies to criticism in the nature of personal tirade either of
a friendly Government or of political party or of the Central Government
or any State Government. But it does not debar reference to and/or
dispassionate discussion of policies pursued by any of them.
2.
If a Station Director finds that the above Code has not been respected
in any particular by an intending broadcaster he will draw the latter’s
attention to the passage objected to. If the intending broadcaster
refuses to accept the Station Director’s suggestions and modify his
accordingly, the Station Director will be justified in refusing his or
her broadcast.
3.
Cases of unresolved differences of opinion between a Minister of State
Government and the Station Director about the interpretation of the Code
with regard to a talk to be broadcast by the former will be referred to
the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India who
will decide finally whether or not any change in the text of the talk is
necessary in order to avoid violation of the Code.
CODE OF
CONDUCT
FOR
TELEVISION/RADIO BROADCASTS IN
CONNECTION WITH ELECTIONS
The
Election Commission (EC) recognises the significance of television and
radio in the coverage of elections. Their reach is widespread and impact
substantial. On the one hand, the electronic media can be misused to
favour one party or another. But on the other hand, the EC recognises
that electronic media can, if used properly be an important source of
information for voters across the country. It can provide the widest
first hand education for voters on political parties, their symbols,
various leaders and different issues in the election. This is why
electronic media all over the world is the single biggest source of
information of voters in terms of debates, campaign, coverage etc.
It is
essential therefore that a model code of conduct is established for
electronic media both to ensure that it is not misused as well as to
ensure that it be used in the best interest of democracy and the voter.
Listed below are the Dos and Don’ts for election coverage on
electronic media.
DONTs
1.
There should be no coverage of any election speeches or other material
that incites violence, against one religion, against one language,
against one group etc.
2.
In any constituency, only one candidate should not be
projected. While it is not necessary to cover every single candidate
(as some constituencies may have several candidates), at least the
more important candidates should be covered in any reports from a
constituency.
3.
The following could be covered in a balanced and fair manner:-
·
Campaigning and excerpts from campaign speeches.
·
Symbols, banners, flags and other campaign materials of parties.
·
Results of opinion polls by non-political, professional organisations
with a proven
track record.
·
Party manifestoes (critical analysis of which is also perfectly
legitimate.)
·
Candidates and their views in different constituencies across the
country.
·
The positions taken by the main parties on different issues important
to the electorate.
·
Debates between major parties and candidates.
·
Analysis of previous voting patterns, victory margins, swings etc.
4. By ‘balanced and fair’ it is meant that among the major
political parties:-
·
No
political parties should be given substantially more coverage than
others. The ‘balance’ need not be achieved in any single day or in a
single story, but over a reasonable period of time, say one week.
·
Balance does not mean each party must get exactly the same air time to
the last second, but parties should be given broadly the same amount of
time.
·
Balance implies that to no reasonable person should it appear that one
political party is being projected to the exclusion of others.
5. Procedures:
·
All
producers must record a copy of their programme off air for use as
reference in case of any disputes.
·
The
EC shall be the final arbiter in any dispute.
6. The final interpretation of any disputed passage or story should be
with
·
The
Election Commission .In Case of disagreement with the broadcaster, one
authority could be nominated by the Election Commission who could take a
decision immediately when approached.
*Subsequent clarifications-
Opinion/Gallop Polls are not to be published/broadcast during the period
48hrs before each phase of polling till the completion of the phase of
polling.
Exit
poll results are not to be published/broadcast before the completion of
each phase of polling.
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