Government cautions TV channels

New Delhi: The Union government on Monday cautioned all television channels against broadcasting disturbing footages and images.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued an advisory to all TV channels against "reporting accidents, deaths, and violence including violence against women, children and elderly in manners which grossly compromises on 'good taste and decency'".

The advisory has been issued after several instances of lack of discretion by television channels were noticed by the ministry, said an official statement.

"The ministry has said that television channels have shown dead bodies of individuals and images/videos of injured persons with blood splattered around, people, including women, children and elderly being beaten mercilessly in close shots, continuous cries and shrieks of a child being beaten by a teacher, shown repeatedly over several minutes including circling the actions thereby making it even more ghastly, without taking the precaution of blurring the images or showing them from long shots," the statement said.

The ministry further highlighted that the manner of reporting such incidents is distasteful and distressing for the audience.

The advisory has highlighted the impact such reporting has on various audience. It stated that such reports can also have an adverse psychological impact on the children.

There is also a crucial issue of invasion of privacy which could be potentially maligning and defamatory, the advisory has underlined.