Noticing the increasing
instances of fake news in various mediums including print and electronic media,
the Government has amended the Guidelines for Accreditation of Journalists. Now
on receiving any complaints of such instances of fake news, the same would get
referred to the Press Council of India (PCI) if it pertains to print media
& to News Broadcasters Association (NBA) if it relates to electronic media,
for determination of the news item being fake or not.
Determination is
expected to be completed within 15 days by these regulating agencies. Once the
complaint is registered for determination of fake news, the
correspondent/journalist whoever created and/or propagated the fake news will,
if accredited, have the accreditation suspended till such time the
determination regarding the fake news is made by the regulating agencies
mentioned above.
The Accreditation
Committee of the PIB which consists of representative of both PCI and NBA shall
be invariably be reached out to for validating any accreditation request of any
news media agency. While any confirmation of publication or telecast of fake
news having been confirmed by any of these agencies, the accreditation shall be
suspended for a period of 6 months in the first violation and for one year in
the case of 2 nd violation and in the event of 3rd violation it would be
cancelled permanently.
While examining the
requests seeking accreditation, the regulatory agencies will examine whether
the `Norms of Journalistic Conduct’ and `Code of Ethics and Broadcasting
Standards’ prescribed by the PCI and NBA respectively are adhered to by the
journalists as part of their functioning. It would be obligatory for
journalists to abide by these guidelines.
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AK