Colored news: the problem of Indian TV media
A very nicely articulated analysis, by Seema Goswami, of the problems of the TV media, especially in the coverage of the recent Mumbai attacks. Also a good comparison between the print and TV media.
What is under attack here is the constant contamination of the news by the views of those who disseminate it on television. As the cliché goes, comment may be free but facts are sacred. And when it comes to the news space, they need to be kept apart. The problem with TV is that there is a constant blurring of the lines so that one never quite knows where the news ends and the views begin.
God knows the print media has its own problems and it often gets things wrong. But where it scores is that the dividing line between opinion and fact is always very clear. Opinion belongs on the edit and op-ed page — and in the feature and style sections. The news appears on all the other pages, uncontaminated by the views of those reporting it.
