NEW DELHI: The National Broadcasting Authority (NBA) has directed news channels Aaj Tak, Zee News, News 24 and India TV to follow its earlier order to apologise for insensitively reporting the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
The NBSA has asked Aaj Tak to air an apology on October 27 at 8 pm for their tweets and wrongly reporting the screenshots calling them real and attributing them as Rajput’s last weeks.
The channel has also been fined an amount of Rs one lakh.
“Aaj Tak apologises that while reporting on the incidents relating to the suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput, we had run certain tweets on Aaj Tak channel and wrongly reported the screenshots calling them real and attributing them as the actor’s last tweets.
"Reports received from news-agencies should be attributed and where possible verified; Allegations should be reported accurately as made and errors of fact should becorrected at the earliest, giving sufficient prominence to the broadcast of the correct version of fact(s),” said an order from NBSA directing the channel to translate this text in Hindi for viewers.
While Zee News, India TV and News 24 have been asked to air apologies for insensitive reporting of the actor’s death, India TV has been asked to publicly apologise for showing the late actor’s body.
‘Do not approve of Republic TV’s journalism’
The NBA said that it did not approve the kind of journalism being practised by Republic TV. This comes in the light of the alleged TRP scam.
It reiterated that it did not support toxic content and unethical journalism. It also condemned any attempt to target journalists but disapproved any ‘vengeful reporting’ by media.