Prasar Bharati chief asks secys to break news on DD, AIR

“I said that if you are going to make an announcement at say 4 pm, give us that story at noon. Let us break it first. Give a lead to both DD News & All India Radio. Every day, there is some major government announcement or the other being made. I feel we have the right to get that information first simply because of the kind of reach we have,” Surya Prakash told The Indian Express.

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On whether he was planning to formally take up the matter with the ministries, he said, “I will certainly push this idea with people in the government with all the force at my command. Once it sinks in, I think it can be implemented.”

Asked about the heartburn and discontent such a move may create among the private media, the Prasar Bharati Chairperson said, “Show me one Channel Head who would not want to break a story. As the head of Prasar Bharati, I am only trying to see how we can forge ahead. We need to get eyeballs… we need to get traction. And we want that advantage over others. This will give us a great headstart.”

Stating that Prasar Bharati has to be treated like a media entity and not a sarkari organisation, Surya Prakash said, “I have done my sales pitch for my channel. Others are most welcome to do their sales pitch too.”

Though the move is somewhat reminiscent of an earlier missive by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry in which it had reportedly asked ministries to give breaking news on major government and policy decisions and even advertisements first to DD News and AIR — something that had been denied by the I&B Secretary then — it is for the first time that a top Prasar Bharati official has officially talked about it.