Modi interview: Prasar Bharati CEO targets 'young minister' Manish Tewari
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ May 3, 2014
Left red-faced over the controversial edits of BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi's interview, Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar on Friday acknowledged that certain portions "were apparently edited" while indirectly pointing at I&B minister Manish Tewari for failing to give the public broadcaster the autonomy it has sought.
In a tersely worded letter, Sircar sought to distance himself from the DD news service division saying that editing portions of the Modi interview had been left to the discretion of the national broadcaster's news editorial team.
Sircar said "questions have been raised in the public domain about the impartiality and motives of the public broadcaster", and the Prasar Bharati board had "taken several resolutions in the last two years, seeking more operational autonomy from the ministry, but it has failed to do so".
He added the best option for Doordarshan news division was not to delay telecast or edit future interviews. The pubcaster has come under fire after it edited out 20 minutes of a 56-minute Modi interview that included the BJP leader's comments on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra where he refused to attack her saying she was doing her duty as a daughter.
Also to be excised were portions where Modi spoke of the close friendship he had enjoyed with Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
Sources said the portions were removed to avoid a controversy though DD has denied such a motive, stating that edits were made for "technical reasons." The interview was delayed for nearly two days after recording before it was telecast.
In the first acknowledgement of criticism about a delayed broadcast and the editing, Sircar said "many... had felt that the subject was too current to hold on and further delays could only cause unnecessary controversies". He also said that he overrode concerns and asked for the interview to be aired even though there was no "balancing interview."
Regarding the edits, Sircar said, "It was left completely to the editorial team of DD news and it appears that while portions critical of Doordarshan were telecast, certain comments on other personalities were apparently edited."
Taking a swipe at I&B minister Manish Tewari, Sircar said, "In a way... the ministry lost an opportunity to convince a young minister to break this long traditional linkage between the ministry and the news division which has continued unabated even after PB was born and assigned its distinct role in 1997."
Sircar went on to say, "The mechanisms of appointment, transfers, career assessments and even punitive actions against senior officials of the news division are bound to cast a shadow in some form." Tewari declined to comment on the letter.
However, ministry sources said there was a need to revisit the role played by Prasar Bharati and if it was required at all. A ministry source said, "Sircar had been appointed by former I&B minister Ambika Soni who was far more experienced and he should have been able to convince her to break the shackles between the ministry and the DD news division."
Read More - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/lok-sabha-elections-2014/news/Modi-interview-Prasar-Bharati-CEO-targets-young-minister-Manish-Tewari/articleshow/34550830.cms
In a tersely worded letter, Sircar sought to distance himself from the DD news service division saying that editing portions of the Modi interview had been left to the discretion of the national broadcaster's news editorial team.
Sircar said "questions have been raised in the public domain about the impartiality and motives of the public broadcaster", and the Prasar Bharati board had "taken several resolutions in the last two years, seeking more operational autonomy from the ministry, but it has failed to do so".
He added the best option for Doordarshan news division was not to delay telecast or edit future interviews. The pubcaster has come under fire after it edited out 20 minutes of a 56-minute Modi interview that included the BJP leader's comments on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra where he refused to attack her saying she was doing her duty as a daughter.
Also to be excised were portions where Modi spoke of the close friendship he had enjoyed with Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
Sources said the portions were removed to avoid a controversy though DD has denied such a motive, stating that edits were made for "technical reasons." The interview was delayed for nearly two days after recording before it was telecast.
Regarding the edits, Sircar said, "It was left completely to the editorial team of DD news and it appears that while portions critical of Doordarshan were telecast, certain comments on other personalities were apparently edited."
Taking a swipe at I&B minister Manish Tewari, Sircar said, "In a way... the ministry lost an opportunity to convince a young minister to break this long traditional linkage between the ministry and the news division which has continued unabated even after PB was born and assigned its distinct role in 1997."
Sircar went on to say, "The mechanisms of appointment, transfers, career assessments and even punitive actions against senior officials of the news division are bound to cast a shadow in some form." Tewari declined to comment on the letter.
However, ministry sources said there was a need to revisit the role played by Prasar Bharati and if it was required at all. A ministry source said, "Sircar had been appointed by former I&B minister Ambika Soni who was far more experienced and he should have been able to convince her to break the shackles between the ministry and the DD news division."
Read More - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/lok-sabha-elections-2014/news/Modi-interview-Prasar-Bharati-CEO-targets-young-minister-Manish-Tewari/articleshow/34550830.cms
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