News Broadcasters Association (NBA) on Tuesday stated that it “strongly deplores” the suggestion by Congress President Sonia Gandhi to impose a complete ban on media advertisements ― television, print and online ― by the government and public sector undertakings (PSUs) for a period of two years.
“On one hand there has been a slump in advertisement revenues of electronic media due to recession, (and) on the other, it is suffering from financial blows due to the nationwide lockdown of all industries and businesses. Moreover, news channels are spending heavily on providing safety to their reporters and production staff. To suggest a “complete ban” on government and PSU advertisements is not only ill-timed, but also highly arbitrary,” the new broadcasters’ industry body added.
NBA has called upon her to withdraw her suggestion made to the Prime Minister for a “complete ban” on media advertisements for two years in the interest of a healthy and free media.