'Time not conducive for entry of foreign media'

By Anita Joshua

NEW DELHI, OCT. 31. Even as the Government awaits the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on foreign media entry, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has said the present internal security scenario is not conducive for a relaxation in the existing policy that is governed by the Cabinet Resolution of 1955.

This view has apparently been conveyed to the Standing Committee on Information Technology which has been discussing the issue of entry of foreign print media and foreign direct investment (FDI) in print media since March.

While advocating against a relaxation in the provisions of the Cabinet Resolution of 1955 with regard to both management control by foreigners and FDI in print media, the Home Ministry has said it would be able to examine the security implications regarding entry of foreign print media and FDI in print media only if I&B formulates a clear-cut policy in this regard.

In the eventuality of the Information & Broadcasting Ministry doing so, the Home Ministry has said necessary safeguards should be put in place in consultation with it and the Ministries of External Affairs and Defence to ensure against possible misuse of print media for purposes prejudicial to the security of the state, public order, communal harmony and relations with other countries.

Since the advocates of FDI/foreign participation in print media have been citing the opening up of other media for investment from overseas as a reason for extending the same policy to newspapers and magazines, the Home Ministry has also explained its position on this aspect of the debate in its communication to the Standing Committee.

About allowing uplinking facility to satellite channels, the Home Ministry has said uplinking proposal of every channel was cleared on a case-to-case basis by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry in consultation with MHA. Besides, certain safeguards have been provided in the terms and conditions of the licence agreement by the I&B Ministry, again in consultation with MHA.

Earlier, the Law Ministry had told the I&B Ministry that there was no legal bar as such on allowing foreign investment in print media.

Viewing it as a purely administrative matter, the Law Ministry had taken the stand that no question of law is involved in the issue which was referred to it by the I&B Ministry in June after five editors/publishers advocated delinking the question of foreign investment in print media from that of foreign media entry.

With this, the issue which has never found consensus - both political and within the industry - is back in the I&B Ministry's court even as it continues to reiterate its commitment to the 1955 resolution .

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Section  : National
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