BEA guidelines for coverage of Amitabh Bachchan's grandchild

New Delhi, Nov 8 (PTI) Days before the delivery of the first child of Aishwarya Rai-Abhishek Bachchan, the Broadcast Editors Association has issued 10-point guidelines for responsible coverage of the development. Among the directions that the BEA has issued are that there would be no pre-coverage of the event. The story of the birth would be run only after official announcement and would not be run on the Breaking News band. No Outdoor Broadcast vans would be stationed outside the hospital or other venues and TV channels would only go for photo-ops if invited. Aishwarya's delivery is due later this week. The channels have also been directed not to telecast any photos or MMS other than the ones issued by the family. The channels have also been directed to not run astrology shows or any show related to the date 11.11.11 related to the birth. "This is not the first time that we have ensured responsible coverage. After the tragic death of cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin's son we ensured that all TV crews leave the spot after only fifteen minutes as it was a happening in the private domain," said N K Singh, the General Secretary of Broadcast Editors'Association. Singh said that active self regulation mechanism of TV channels had ensured that the coverage remains responsible when sensitive happenings like violence in Gopalgarh or news related to the Ayodhya verdict was telecast.