Show dignity towards LGBTQ community, report maturely: NBDSA to Sudhir Chaudhary

The News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) recently criticised TV news anchor Sudhir Chaudhary for derogatory comments made by him about the LGBTQIA+ community and the Supreme Court while covering the same-sex marriage case. .It also ordered Aaj Tak and India Today to edit two clips of shows hosted by Sudhir Chaudhary to remove such objectionable content, and to take down one such clip entirely. The common order was passed in in response to four complaints. The complainants, Indrajeet Ghorpade and Utkarsh Mishra, had lodged a grievance against a three programs hosted by Sudhir Chaudhary, two of which were broadcast on AajTak and one on India Today.After examining the matter, NBDSA Chairperson, Justice (retired) AK Sikri found that the many comments made by Chaudhary against the LGBTQ community in a segment of his "Black and White" show, aired on Aaj Tak in April 2023, were not in good taste. .The NBDSA added that Chaudhary had violated ethical guidelines to ensure neutrality and impartiality in news broadcasts, and guidelines against hate speech."The manner in which the anchor portrayed the community in the impugned programme violates the dignity of the LGBTQIA+ people to say the least," the January 24 order said. .In this programe, Chaudhary had opined that LGBTQ+ marriage is a Western issue. The complainants highlighted that he had attempted to spread homophobia among parents by showing an AI-generated image of a person who was half bride and half groom, while asking viewers to imagine if their child brought home someone like that.The NBDSA took a dim view of such comments. "A well-informed person like the anchor, that too of a national channel, is supposed to respect those rights (rights of the LGBTQ+ persons) which even the law recognises. In this context, it has to be emphasised that even the persons belonging to this community are to be treated as normal human beings and, more importantly, with due dignity," NBDSA observed.It, therefore, directed AajTak to remove the video of the said broadcast from its website as well as YouTube, and to remove all other web links to the said segment. This is to be done within seven days of the NBDSA order..Referring to the other shows complained of, the NBDSA asked Chaudhary to show more maturity in future reports. This was after it found that Chaudhary had made misleading comments against the Supreme Court as well as former Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud who was among the judges deciding on the same sex marriage case.In focus was an April 22, 2023 segment of Seedhi Baat aired by Aaj Tak in which Chaudhary interviewed former Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, and certain comments made during the India Today Roundtable Karnataka aired on April 22, 2023, in which Chaudhary had interviewed Union Home Minister Amit Shah. "Some of the utterances/remarks of the anchor during the said interview were not in good taste and could have been easily avoided," the NBDSA observed.The NBDSA added that there would not have been any issue if the discussion was only confined to the issue at hand, namely same sex marriage. However, it found the Chaudhary had gone beyond such limits and violated guidelines for court reporting when he made statements such as "Ye desh kisi ke baap ka nahi hai aur kuch log isse chalane ki koshish kar rahe hai" (translation: This country does not belong to anyone's father and some people are trying to run it)", while referring to CJI Chandrachud. It, therefore, ordered the broadcasters (AajTak, India Today) to edit clips of these two shows, to remove such derogatory content. "The NBDSA closes this complaint with an advisory to the anchor to show more maturity in future while conducting such programmes. NBDSA further directs the broadcaster to edit the video of the said broadcast by removing the aforesaid portions within 7 days of the Order," the order said. .[Read Order]