The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : We should have our own Discovery Channel: Vittal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

We should have our own Discovery Channel: Vittal

Special Correspondent

"It should be based on the treasure of material with AIR or Doordarshan"

CHENNAI: Former Central Vigilance Commissioner N.Vittal on Monday said it would be ideal if the country had its own Discovery Channel based on the archives and the treasure of information and broadcast material available with the All India Radio (AIR) or Doordarshan to ensure the economic viability of public service broadcasting (PSB).

Speaking at a meeting held by the Chennai chapter of the Broadcast Engineering Society (India) to mark the `National Public Service Broadcasting Day,' Mr.Vittal said PSB must be able to nurture values such as truth, culture of inclusiveness and decency.

Given the imperatives of a commercial environment, questions such as how could the PSB survive and still deliver the goods were raised, he said.

One of the ways to ensure sustainability of the PSB could be development of "narrowcasting" that would cater to the group of people who were interested in a particular subject and target the broadcast to them, Mr. Vittal said.

The second alternative was emulating the British Broadcasting Corporation, which had emerged as a model PSB, he said.

The `Discovery Channel' offered yet another example, as it had been able to "package educative information in an attractive manner and perhaps become commercially viable also," he added.

Describing Prasar Bharati as an excellent instrument, he stressed that it should be ensured that the public broadcasting responsibilities were carried out.

Twisted information

The multiplicity of news channels itself provided an opportunity to compare how the same information could be twisted or slanted depending upon the politics and ideology of the broadcaster, he said.

Though the Central Government had made a systematic effort to ensure Prasar Bharati would be really independent and autonomous, given the realities of the situation, it would not be easy for the organisation to avoid reflecting the views of the Government because it represented the establishment, Mr.Vittal said.

Even in the case of private channels, they had to represent the views of the owners who financially controlled them, he added.

Immense contribution

State Election Commissioner D.Chandrasekaran said the AIR and Doordarshan had been making immense contribution to the country's growth in agriculture, industry and education, besides promoting national integration.

S.Ramaswamy and N.Thiagarajan, president and secretary respectively of the BES (I) highlighted the significance of celebrating the National Public Service Broadcasting Day.

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