New Delhi: At a time when some leading corporate houses have entered the print and audio-visual media, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, that is also the regulator for the broadcast sector, on Tuesday suggested that some restrictions be put on corporate firms as well as political and religious bodies from entering TV and newspaper business.
The regulator also recommended the setting up of an independent media regulatory authority, comprising mainly eminent non-media persons, for both TV and print media to impose penalties for “paid news”, “private treaties” and issues related to “editorial independence”. “The entities (political bodies, religious bodies, urban, local, panchayati raj, and other publicly funded bodies, and Central and state government ministries /departments, undertakings, JVs and government-funded entities and affiliates) to be barred from entry into broadcasting and TV channel distribution,” Trai said.
