I&B Ministry cautions TV channels over gory visuals of violence

The information and broadcasting ministry on Monday cautioned television channels against airing disturbing footage and distressing images, stating that it was a violation of the programme code that they are supposed to follow.

The advisory has been issued after several instances of lack of discretion by television channels were noticed by ministry officials. In the last few months, news channels have "grossly compromised on good taste and decency" in a manner "quite unpalatable to the eyes and ears of a common viewer", the ministry said in an advisory to TV channels.

The examples of violations pointed out by the ministry included a telecast on December 30 of "distressing images and videos" of a cricketer following an accident, referring to Rishabh Pant's road accident on the Delhi-Dehradun highway. The list also included "distressing gory images" of singer Sidhu Moose Wala, who was killed last May.


"The manner of reporting such incidents is distasteful, heart wrenching, distressful, sensational, thereby offending good taste and decency. Such reporting has an adverse psychological impact on the children," the advisory concluded by urging news channels to report on issues like violence, crime, accidents and death in conformity with the programming code.