Modi govt wants to turn DD India into India's BBC, but doesn't want crime stories telecast

Leave aside India, will the rest of the world ever really trust news from the national broadcaster Doordarshan? It turns out, the Narendra Modi government intends to find out. [caption id=“attachment_2281692” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image.[/caption] An Indian Express report said that the NDA government plans to give Doordarshan’s international news channel, DD India, a complete makeover. And they’re not setting a pretty high bar for themselves: they want it to be much like the BBC. The plans for the revamp of the news channels sounds grand, but given allegations of government interference in the functioning of the channel will it really ever enjoy the same trust? Turns out the government’s not making the best beginning in this endeavour. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has reportedly already made clear what it wants to show to the people of the world about India, and it is not something that a balanced news channel is made of. “Showing crime stories, for instance, could paint an extremely negative image of the country. So we need to be careful about what we decide to show on DD India,” a top I&B ministry source told The Indian Express . The NDA government’s handling of a recent appointment has also raised eyebrows. Veena Jain, was made the Director General (News) of Doordarshan. will also hold charge as officer on special duty in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry for new and social media raising questions over the independence in her job role. The I&B Ministry was at loggerheads with Prasar Bharati chairperson A Surya Prakash because the release that announced Jain’s appointment as Doordarshan DG also said, “She will report to the Ministry for all purpose.” Prakash had met I&B Minister Arun Jaitley seeking a modification of the earlier order, after which the ministry on Friday said that she would report to Prasar Bharati for “all operational purposes” and to the ministry as officer on special duty. The autonomy of the broadcaster has been under the scanner for decades now, but i n April 2014  a few weeks before the results of the general elections were out, Doordarshan telecast an interview with Narendra Modi and soon after the BJP created a huge uproar over the editing of the interview. The party alleged that Doordarshan had snipped and hacked through the interview due to pressure from the Congress-led government at the Centre at the time. Given its own experience with the national broadcaster, it would have been ideal if the government used this opportunity to ensure that the national broadcaster gets some independence. But the signs so far are not too encouraging.