Public service broadcasting: a best practices ... - unesdoc - Unesco

ule at weekends. There is a daily half-hour review shown last thing in the evening and
repeated early the next day, as well as a weekly overview—also repeated.
During the parliamentary recess, programmes are shown on BBC Parliament aimed at helping
viewers better understand the work of the two Houses. During the Easter recess of 2003,
for example, they explained in great detail, using archive material, the work of the House of
Commons specialized-committees.
6.5.6 India:
In the world’s biggest democracy, parliament is frequently shown live on
television but not broadcast on radio. Special events such as the President’s address to
members of both Houses are shown live as are other major occasions like the national budget
and the budget for the railways.—highly important in a country where some ten million
people are said to travel by train every day, and where fares are highly subsidized. Major
government announcements are also shown live such as the government’s decision to
resume a dialogue with Pakistan in early May 2003, made by Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, and broadcasted through international satellite channels throughout the world.
The state-owned All India Radio (AIR) has always been the only station permitted to broadcast
news on radio. It records Question Hour, which is then broadcast later the same day on
the National Channel of AIR. AIR’s regional stations arrange live coverage of the Governor’s
Address to the State Assemblies and the presentation of the Budget by the state Finance
Ministers. The state television broadcaster, Doordarshan, puts out one hour of live parliamentary
broadcasting a day.
6.5.7 South Africa:
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) carries
live parliamentary sessions on a national channel, which reaches just over three-quarters of
the population. It dedicates eight hours a week to reporting live from the floor of the National
Assembly during parliamentary sessions. However, this could be reduced to make space for
special broadcasts such as the Earth Summit, which was held in Johannesburg in August
and September 2002. SABC’s television news bulletins, including packaged reports from
parliament, are also available on the Internet.
In many other developing countries and smaller European nations, parliamentary broadcasts
are either transmitted live on radio AM frequencies or only during special sessions.
Extracts from debates are included in daily news programmes or evening special parliamentary
reporting segments. Television usually covers parliament during a special debate or on
budget day or the opening of a new parliamentary session.
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