Q&A: Monroe Price and Deepak Jacob

'The TV industry is working on a code'

The recent directive of the ministry of information & broadcasting to shift reality shows on popular general entertainment channels from prime time slots has revived the issue of content in what is telecast. Self-regulation should still be the aim, Monroe Price, a global expert in the teaching of communication policy, and Deepak Jacob, executive vice president and general counsel (legal and regulatory affairs), tell Sharmistha Mukherjee. Edited excerpts:

Debates on content regulation in the media industry have always veered towards the need for codes which would promote self-regulation. Do you regard this as the way forward?
Price: Self-regulation would definitely be an important element. An effective self-regulatory framework can become the means of changing the way the industry views itself. The only problem would be competition, which can violate the framed guidelines due to the size and the fragmented nature of the Indian media industry. Public perception about the content being broadcast, however, would eventually bring in accountability.

Jacob: The ministry exercises authority over the content broadcast under the Cable Television Act. Over the last five years, however, the media industry has grown in leaps and bounds. The industry is working on framing a code which can regulate the content in the context of audience preferences.

But self-regulatory practices have not worked, if we take into account episodes being aired on certain reality shows. Even the ministry directive was stayed by the court.

Jacob: The issue with the ministry directive was, appropriate time was not given to the channels in question to implement the changes. The minister has already indicated the government does not wish to regulate content. The industry is devising a two-tier system which would define a code for content creation and put in place a consumer complaint redressal mechanism. The body would not have any bureaucrats on board and is likely to be constituted by the end of this financial year.

With integration on fast-track across platforms in the media and entertainment industry, would you advocate a unified framework for content regulation?
Price: The dream or, rather, the nightmare would be to have a uniform system for regulating content across media platforms. I feel each platform has its own distinctive history, consumer interface and ownership structure. The distinctions may alter in due course but, right now, a unified approach towards content regulation is not viable.

Regulation has not proved effective in dealing with the menace of paid news in the country. What could be an alternative to the outlines already mooted by the Press Council?
Price: In the online version of the Guardian, for instance, there is a category labelled PC which publishes paid content. It may not be the perfect framework but it is self-regulatory. Transparency would be appreciated in the industry as it eludes deception, but even that is not a solution. We would not want to slide into an environment where paid news becomes legitimate.