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Why are media regulators soft with scribes, asks SC
News:
- Supreme Court (SC) expressed concern over the repeated violations seen in media while covering sensitive cases.
Important Facts:
- The SC also questioned the media regulators like Press Council of India (PCI), Editors Guild of India, National Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), and the Indian Broadcasting Federation (IBF) about the steps taken by them to penalise such journalists.
- Background: The journalists have recently been seen blatantly violating norms and standards mandated for ethical journalism and which invite criminal prosecution.
- For example, revealing the identity of a rape survivor by journalist make them criminally liable.
| Note: It is a crime under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code to disclose the identity of victims of sexual abuse, especially if they are children. |
- SC also observed that not even a single journalist has been prosecuted when there is a violation of law, responding to the claim of the media regulators that their grievance mechanism is robust.
- The court has given three weeks to PCI, Editors Guild and IBF to respond specifically on whether they had a responsibility to inform the police about an offence committed by a journalist or a media organisation.
