India's Angst - It's access all areas

Following vociferous complaints from India over a recent Big Brother TV series featuring Bollywood "princess" Shilpa Shetty, former BBC current affairs producer Franks writes: "Historically there was a clear distinction between foreign and domestic programmes. In a time when the subjects of a report would often never be likely to see or read it, or at least not until the journalists and crew were far away from the scene, there was an implicit double standard. Journalists reporting about foreign places could get away with more and take greater risks... As the domestic becomes global, this distinction no longer applies. Foreign reporters are vulnerable to what BBC World presenter Nik Gowing refers to as a "howl round". The subjects of their reporting are likely to have a satellite dish on which they can instantly view the report and form an opinion – and the spread of news material to broadband internet means that even the satellite dish becomes unnecessary. On occasion this has put journalists in a dangerous position – for example, Gowing cites rebel guerrilla leaders who do not like the way they are being portrayed and he urges BBC World to recognise that the subjects of its reporting can all potentially view the output."