Zee News and its sister channel, Zee Telugu, have been penalised a combined Rs 2 lakh by the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) for separate broadcasts that violated core journalistic ethics in communal reporting and the portrayal of the LGBTQ+ community.

Zee News, a habitual offender when it comes to airing stories with communal overtones, was fined Rs 1 lakh by the NBDSA this week for a March 2025 broadcast that falsely blamed a Muslim truck driver for causing a traffic jam on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway by performing namaz (prayers) on the road. 

Ruling that Zee News had violated fundamental principles of “Accuracy” and “Neutrality” enshrined in the Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards, the NBDSA ordered the channel to remove all content related to this broadcast from all digital platforms within seven days.  

The three complainants, Utkarsh Mishra, Syed Kaab Rashidi and Indrajeet Ghorpade, highlighted that the broadcast communalised a routine traffic disruption caused by adverse weather conditions and landslides by airing unverified viral footage under headlines such as “Truck par namaz, highway kiya jam” and “Khadi rahi gaadiya, log hue pareshan”. Rashidi separately noted that NBDSA had passed approximately 27 orders against Zee News since 2019 for broadcasting biased news. 

In its defence, the broadcaster stated that the coverage was “based entirely on a viral video circulating on social media,” which the editorial team chose to report “to address the public interest and shed light on an event that was being widely discussed”. The channel noted that the reporter “clarified during the broadcast that Zee News had not verified the video” and claimed that “upon realising that the video was fake, the impugned broadcast was immediately deleted”.

The NBDSA specifically noted that merely providing a disclaimer about the unverified nature of social media content does not “absolve the Member of their responsibilities”. 

“NBDSA was of the view that using unverified content available on social media is a clear lapse on the part of the broadcaster, which is also serious in nature and is in violation of the principle of Accuracy enshrined under the Code of Conduct, which Members are expected to adhere to prior to telecasting/publishing any content,” the order noted.

To prevent future lapses, the NBDSA issued fresh guidelines for all member broadcasters regarding the use of social media content. Among other things, the new rules mandate that any viral footage must be corroborated by on-ground reporting or official accounts and tested against the “touchstone of public interest and accuracy” before it is aired. NBDSA clarified that news gathered from social media must strictly adhere to ethical standards to avoid spreading “distorted information, misinformation, [and] fake news.”

‘Blatantly transphobic’

Zee Telugu, the sister channel of Zee News, was also fined Rs 1 lakh for a November 2024 broadcast titled “fake transgenders arrested in Hyderabad” without verifying the gender identity of the individuals arrested, a failure the complainant, Indrajeet Ghorpade, described as “blatantly transphobic, unverified, and inaccurate”. 

In its order, the authority found that the channel had aired a report which used “images of trans women unrelated to this case” and explicitly labelled arrested individuals as “fake”. 

The broadcast was found to have “undermined the images” of private citizens by publishing their photographs before any legal conviction. In addition to a fine, the channel has been directed to remove the offending “photographs/pictures” related to the broadcast from all digital platforms within seven days. 

In its defence, the broadcaster claimed that “according to its sources”, the individuals arrested “were men pretending to be transgender persons”. “Consequently, the report initially included the term ‘fake’; however, upon clarification, this error was promptly corrected. The program was broadcast solely to present these facts, with no intention to defame, belittle, or demean the transgender community,” it added. Moreover, “the images used in the broadcast were provided to it by the local law enforcement agencies,” claimed the broadcaster. 

However, on this particular claim, the NBDSA noted that “no documentary evidence is produced in support of this assertion”. 

From Manikarnika Ghat to the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, Banaras is being reshaped in the name of vikas. Our new NL Sena asks who pays the price. Power it here.