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Why India’s top TV news watchdog has failed to control hate speech
We delved into five years’ data to look for the worst offenders and find out why India’s leading broadcasting regulator can’t bring them to book.
28 March, 2023•13 min
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28 March, 2023•13 min
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Editor's note: Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections last year, News18, a Hindi news channel, hosted a “debate” titled “Is there a political alliance against Hindus?” Aman Chopra, a senior editor at the channel, was anchoring the show. But he wasn’t moderating. It seemed he’d made up his mind. “Ye 80 ke khilaf hai mahagathbandhan [The grand alliance is against the majority]”, he said, referring to the share of the Hindu population in the state. Anyone who disagreed, he heckled. He told a Muslim panelist, “You have a problem with Hindus”. The tickers on the show echoed his bluster: “15% Muslim 85% Hindu par bhari” [15% Muslims dominate 85% Hindus] and “Hinduon ke khilaf sab mil gaye hai? [Everybody has ganged up against Hindus].” Last month, the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority, India’s leading self-regulatory body for TV news channels, slammed News18 for the show. “The anchor had given the debate a thrust, which is communal in nature and not appropriate,” it said. Zee News and Times Now, too, were pulled up for airing communally sensitive programmes. All three were …
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