Private broadcasters came down heavily on the Government decision to restrict telecast and publication of exit polls during elections till the conclusion of the final phase of polling.
NEW DELHI: Private broadcasters on Friday came down heavily on the Government decision to restrict telecast and publication of exit polls during elections till the conclusion of the final phase of polling, terming it a move that violates their freedom of expression.
Describing the Union Cabinet's decision as something "which is not a step in the right direction as this could have a bearing on the freedom of expression of the Press," CNN-IBN national bureau chief Bhupendra Chaubey said that the government could have inserted some riders for broadcasters, instead of completely banning the telecast of exit polls.
"At the end of the day, people of India do not exercise their voting rights on the basis of what exit polls say. At a time when the world has become a global village, more and more people are getting interested in what is happening around them," said Chaubey, adding that an exit poll on Gujarat could even interest a resident of Uttar Pradesh.
Echoing similar sentiments, NDTV's senior managing editor Sonia Singh said that the decision was a "clear and unacceptable government interference in the freedom of the press".
She added that there was no research or evidence that showed such polls affecting voting behaviour.
"Political parties at election time spread rumours about who is winning. This is called 'bad' information. Polls push out this sort of information with 'good' scientific information. Even if polls are not always accurate, they are unbiased, unmotivated ... that political parties do not like, hence the knee jerk reaction to ban all polls," she said.
Annie Joseph, secretary general of News Broadcasters Association (NBA), chose not to comment on the issue, saying she was "yet to go through the details of the issue".
NBA has been at the forefront of opposing government interference in news content shown by broadcasters, and therefore has come out with its own code on content monitoring for private broadcasters.
Zee News CEO Barun Das while reacting to the decision, said, "this has been a pet peeve of the political class against the media for some years. On one hand they have been complaining that exit and opinion polls are inaccurate by miles and on the other hand they have been bitter about interim exit polls supposedly influencing the ultimate result. That contradiction is obviously beyond the political parties. But that said, exit and opinion polls in India have had a serious credibility problem."
A Star News official said that as far as telecasting exit polls for smaller states - where polling is a day-long affair - is concerned, they have been showing exit polls only after 5 pm.
The Union Cabinet earlier this week had taken a decision to restrict telecast and publication of exit polls till the last poll in an election is over, with the aim of ensuring that polls which are generally spread over several phases are free and fair.
The move comes ahead of crucial assembly polls in six states and the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for early next year.
The Election Commission a couple of years back had banned the telecast, publication or broadcast of exit polls during polls till the final phase of voting, but media houses had approached the Supreme Court and got the order revoked.
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