Making Prasar Bharti autonomous in the real sense

Courtesy:  economictimes.indiatimes.com

By ET Bureau | 13 Aug, 2014, 04.00AM IST

Autonomy for Prasar Bharati (PB), the public broadcaster, has again been raised after a series of letters dashed off by its CEO, Jawhar Sircar, bemoaning the lack of control the broadcaster has on news it puts out and the manner in which officials are transferred or posted to it, as part of a complaint of government interference. This debate is revisited every now and then, without much progress despite successive governments apparently agreeing on the need to reform PB. 

First, there is nothing wrong with having a public broadcaster that can reflect the views of the government. The BBC is often cited as an example. But does the BBC not often represent the UK government's views on, say, conflicts around the world? 

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