Days before the delivery of the first child of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, the Broadcast Editors Association (BEA) has issued a 10-point-guideline for responsible coverage of the development.
Among the directions that the BEA issued are that there would be no pre-coverage of the event. The story of birth would be run only after the official announcement and would not be run on the Breaking News band.
No Outdoor Broadcast vans would be stationed outside the hospital or other venues and TV channels would only go for photo-ops if invited. The channels have also been directed not to telecast any photo or MMS other than the ones issued by the family.
“This is not the first time that we have ensured responsible coverage. After the tragic death of cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin's son, we ensured that all TV crews leave the spot after 15 minutes as it was a happening in the private domain,” said BEA general secretary N.K. Singh.