The staff of Telugu news channels TV9 and ABN Andhra Jyoti on Saturday organised a protest outside the Delhi residence of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao demanding withdrawal of blackout of their channels.
TV9 and ABN Andhra Jyoti Delhi Bureau chiefs Shravan Kumar and M. Krishna termed the blacking out of the two channels over the last two-and-a-half months an assault on the fundamental right of free speech of journalists. They told The Hindu that the telecom operators were acting in defiance of the order of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) that asked them to restore the telecast. The TDSAT September 2 order had come on a petition by the Associated Broadcasting Company Private Ltd (ABC), promoter TV9. It had directed the Multi-System Operators (MSOs) to resume transmission of TV9 without any delay.
“It said that as long as the contents of the petitioner’s (ABC) broadcast do not violate any law, the channels cannot be taken off-air on threat of violence,” noted the two senior journalists quoting an excerpt from the order.
The cable operators had attributed the shutting down of the two channels to alleged threats of violence following the telecast of a programme against Telangana MPs, MLAs and MLCs by TV9, the two journalists said. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) Government had termed the show “derogatory, highly objectionable and in bad taste”.
ABN Andhra Jyothi TV, on the other hand, had brought out a report in its newspaper showing the ruling TRS Government allegedly in “bad light”. The TRS ire against the two channels also got some public support as many felt the channels had crossed a line, the two journalists stated.
Before moving the TDSAT, the two channels had apologised to the politicians for many days but it had no impact, the senior journalists said.
