Tags:
Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, Nov 15: A war of words has broken out between Doordarshan and the University Grants Commission UGC over the former8217;s educational telecast. While UGC feels its programmes are being kicked around on the National Network, Doordarshan says it is not honour-bound to air shoddy stuff.
The trigger has been Doordarshan8217;s decision to remove the daily UGC programme, made by the Central Consortium for Educational Communication CEC, from the 7.15 a.m. slot, which is now occupied by Ramesh Sharma8217;s morning programme, Subah Savere. Though UGC-CEC has been making programmes for Doordashan for the past 14 years through 17 media centres set up in different universities, the national broadcaster seems to have had enough now.
Instead of the 45-minute early morning slot, UGC has been allotted a half-hour slot at 9.30 a.m. on weekdays since September. Officials claim they were compelled to take the decision due to the added pressure on DD to raise more revenue.
But that while DD has decided not to allot a prime time slot to the UGC unless it gets advertisements, the UGC, on the other hand, claims it will get sponsors only if it is allotted prime time.
Says Prasar Bharati CEO O P Kejriwal: 8220;Though Parliament has sanctioned that we air commercials only 10 per cent of the time, we manage to get commercials for about one-third of the sanctioned time. UGC-CEC will have to pay for the slots and earn through advertisements as we are facing a cash crunch.8221;
Chowdhury appears to have taken up the challenge: 8220;If things have come to such a pass that DD has forgotten its educational goal, I will get publishers and makers of stationery to sponsorus. I can even get Coke and Pepsi to support us if DD allots us a prime time slot. I know if I get such sponsors, some people will accuse me of commercialising education. But what else can I do?8221;
CEC is staking its claim to a morning slot saying that its programmes have a viewership of 22 million. According to CEC statistics, the proportion of regular viewers two or more days a week is highest in the North-east 6.8 per cent, followed by the East, where it is 5 per cent. But senior DD officials dismiss the data as hogwash.
They are also less than happy with the quality of CEC programmes. But CEC says it gets an annual grant of Rs 9 crore from the Planning Commission, a budget it says is too low to produce high quality programmes.
