Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's pregnancy coverage has media restrictions

The broadcast media in India have been issued with guidelines on the reporting of the birth of Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan's first child.

According to Mumbai Mirror, an internal memo placing restrictions on the coverage of the event has been circulated by the Broadcast Editors' Association.

"The main purpose is to make Indian electronic news media more value-based and purposeful for [the] broader public cause," commented NK Singh, general secretary of the association.

The memo reportedly outlines a ten point plan which includes limiting the amount of airtime that can be given to coverage of the birth, preventing the use of unofficial photographs of the child and not attempting to gain entry into the hospital where the star will deliver.

"Is this self-regulation or censorship? And why only for this story? Isn't it ironic that a move which seeks to curb publicity will find a mention in all the newspapers tomorrow?" an anonymous Mumbai broadcaster said.

The Bachchans were earlier criticised for deploying excessive security during the wedding of the two leading film celebrities.

The Indian media at the time gave widespread coverage to an unknown actress who claimed to have been in a relationship with Abhishek, and threatened to commit suicide on his wedding day.

Amitabh Bachchan used his Twitter account to announce the pregnancy of his daughter-in-law after her Cannes appearance.

The actress was replaced by Kareena Kapoor in Heroine following her pregnancy announcement.