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I&B’s TRP freeze can’t stop Indian news channels beating war drums—it’s ‘khooni takkar’

Despite BARC halting TRP reporting, Hindi and English news channels are still painting the Iran war red with music and drums.

Bravo, Indian television news channels, you have stuck to your guns. Er, quite literally. It’s bombs away in your TV studios, amidst great balls of fire, black clouds ballooning out of explosions, fighter jets zig-zagging across cities and going up in smoke.

Your screens are always filled with images of the ‘khooni takkar’ between United States-Israel and Iran (NDTV India).

So, let the Indian government say what it likes, you’re going to fight till the end, or at least till a ceasefire is declared in the ‘World at War’ (Times Now) in the Gulf.

Last Friday (6 March), the Indian government halted the publication of TV news ratings. It directed the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to suspend television rating points (TRPs) for four weeks or until further notice, due to the conflict in West Asia.

BARC is the official body that measures and releases weekly TRP for news channels.

Why did the government take this extraordinary and unusual, if not unprecedented, step? The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said it was to discourage television news networks from sensational coverage of the war in the West Asia. Certain News TV Channels are displaying “unwarranted sensationalism and speculative content,” the government stated.

Such content could “potentially create panic among the general public, especially those having friends and family in the affected areas or residing in the affected areas,” added the ministry.

Well, thank you, I&B ministry, for your sensitivity. We applaud you.

Except, except, they’re not minding you, are they? TV news channels in Hindi and English still paint the war........

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