Govt working to shield conventional media amid rapid digitisation: Vaishnaw

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The government has planned a series of initiatives to shield the conventional media from the disruptions expected due to rapid digitisation in the sector.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said the government plans to remove the regulatory overhang in the radio industry and Television Rating Point (TRP) reforms.

"The government is working to remove regulatory barriers wherever they exist," the minister said in an informal interaction with reporters here.

Vaishnaw said the ministry is exploring ways to improve the television rating system to ensure fair revenue to television channels from government advertisements.

"Television Rating Point (TRP) guidelines are being formulated. The first round of consultation is complete, feedback has been received, and a second consultation paper will be published soon," the minister said.

The government is also considering increasing the advertisement rates for print and television media.

Vaishnaw said the government is also working on the integration of the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), Central Bureau of Communication (CBC), and Press Information Bureau (PIB) to improve coordination across media outreach and regulatory functions.

He said the PIB has intensified its outreach efforts, issuing backgrounders and research-based documents on key topics regularly.

He said a chatbot for fact-checking is being developed for verifying the authenticity of videos and online content.