India’s  Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has officially recognised the News Broadcasters Federation (NBF)’s self-regulatory body, making it the first such government recognised organisation.

According to a press statement, the NBF’s self-regulatory body’s emergence as the sole body to meet all criteria to be granted validation by the  Indian Government and be the only recognised body self-regulating the news media sector as on-date, once again “reiterates the commitment of the largest news broadcasters body to the fundamentals of transparency, accountability, and strong self-regulation”.

The NBA, which is already India’s largest body of news broadcasters in India, the statement claimed, has been relentlessly working with member groups and stakeholders in the industry to strengthen self-regulatory frameworks in the news media sector.

With NBF’s Professional News Broadcasters Standards Authority (PNBSA) being recognised by the federal government, the body is set to build a robust system with the highest standards of transparency and accountability, and one that has an unmatched precedent in the domain of news media vis-à-vis self-regulation, the NBF statement said.

“As the only accredited self-regulatory body for news media, the PNBSA has undergone rigorous scrutiny,” NBF said.

On the new development, President of the NBF, Arnab Goswami, said, “ I want to thank all the members of the Governing Body of the NBF who have worked with me towards making this happen. The media has a pivotal role in strengthening our democracy and taking it to even greater heights. Strengthening the framework of the self-regulation of the media is a big step in that direction. And that’s exactly what the NBF has been working round the clock towards. The NBF prides itself on its democratic structure and roots across the country. Different languages, dynamic formats, and varied audiences, but what binds the NBF is our commitment to coming together to strengthen the media pillar of Indian democracy. We look forward to working with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to further strengthen self-regulation in our media.”

Secretary-General of the NBF, R. Jai Krishna, said, “We are privileged to be the first officially recognised self-regulatory body to be registered for TV news broadcasters. We are grateful to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and our members for reposing trust and faith. We ensure that we will take the news broadcasting of the country to great milestones with our democratic structure, excellence in self-regulation, and bringing the truth and reflections to the doorsteps across the country in maximum languages.”

The PNBSA has formally been registered as a self-regulatory body under the new amendments in the Cable Television Network Act, the statement claimed.