Television news industry organisations like the News Broadcasters Federation (NBF) and the News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA) have strongly condemned the boycott of news anchors, cutting across news channels, by certain political parties.

While the NBDA in a statement yesterday evening dubbed the move as setting “a dangerous precedent”, NBF said such a boycott was aimed to “crush free speech and target the Indian media in a pre-election year”.

The opposition political parties’ alliance, which calls itself INDIA (an acronym for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) yesterday had announced that it will boycott shows of 14 television anchors on several platforms and not send their reps to participate in debates, justifying the move saying some TV channels have put up a ‘nafrat ka bazaar’ (market for hatred) for the last nine years.

“The NBF vociferously condemns the undemocratic, Emergency-era directive to boycott 14 select news anchors as part of an undemocratic institutionalised political decision to crush free speech and target the Indian media in a pre-election year,” said the organisation that boasts of maximum number of Tv news channels as its members, especially the powerful regional ones.

The blanket decision to ban representation of I.N.D.I.A political alliance’s members on the on-air shows of 14 specific news anchors across broadcast networks in the country is an unprecedented attempt to muzzle the voice of the Indian media through intimidation and singling-out tactics, NBF asserted.

“The I.N.D.I.A. political alliance’s order is clearly an attempt to censor the media in this great country, which prides on its wealthy history of free speech, thought and expression.

“To make an institutional political decision against handpicked journalists of established stature is a clear and outright onslaught against free speech through systematic targeting of the media,” the NBF statement stressed, adding that the “draconian” decision should be revoked.

The NBDA too expressed its unhappiness, saying it was “deeply anguished and concerned” by the decision taken by the I.N.D.I.A. Media Committee not to send their representatives on the shows and events hosted by certain journalists and anchors.

Pointing out that the decision ‘sets a dangerous precedent’, the NBDA statement said, “The ban on representatives of the opposition alliance from participating in TV news shows anchored by some of India’s top TV news personalities goes against the ethos of democracy. It betokens intolerance and imperils press freedom.”

The NBDA further stated: “The opposition alliance claims to be the champion of pluralism and a free press, but its decision betrays callous disregard for democracy’s most fundamental tenet — the inalienable right to openly express ideas and opinions. 

“The boycott of certain journalists/anchors takes the nation back to the Emergency era, when the press was gagged, and independent opinions and voices were crushed.”

NBDA urged the opposition alliance to withdraw its decision.

Meanwhile, according to a PTI report, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) also termed the boycott as an attack on democracy.

The president of National Union of Journalists linked to the International Federation of Journalists, Ras Bihari, said in a statement that this decision of the opposition parties is a “black chapter” of repression on the media in India’s democratic history.

“This is totally wrong and unacceptable,” he said, adding that this reflects the lack of democratic values in these parties.