Thursday, January 22, 2009

Why is NDTV the mildest critic of the perpetrators?

This is a question that always bothered me, as my observation has been that NDTV has been the most reluctant player in criticising the terror activities emanating from Pakistan, while being the first to criticise Malegaon etc. Having been a loyal follower of Prannoy Roy since his "The World This Week" days, this started becoming more and more disturbing.

Perhaps this explains the issue in part
http://www.indusbusinessjournal.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=7AE7A4695C9D4BF2B2CA621CC7489BC6&AudID=F1B696626A8943B7B50052A323677014

Extract from above article:
"New Delhi-based NDTV is India’s largest news and entertainment production company, with 23 offices and studios across the country. Founded in 1988 by its current chairman, director, and majority shareholder, Prannoy Roy, NDTV currently has more than 1,000 employees. As of 2006, the company’s English-language Indian news channel, ND24x7, held a 31-percent market share – a huge number, given the vast size of India’s broadcast-television industry. NDTV is the only Indian television channel to broadcast in Pakistan. The company’s other channels and businesses include:
•NDTV Imagine, a Hindi entertainment channel which launched Jan. 21 and is expected to compete for the top spot in its sector. Headed by chief executive Sameer Nair, the channel contains a programming lineup of popular shows and personalities and has thus far been well-received by media critics and viewers, according to NBC Universal and NDTV Networks.
•NDTV Good Times, India’s first lifestyle channel, which debuted last September to good numbers, targets the country’s fast-growing and increasingly affluent middle class. Because of this success, NDTV plans to launch additional genre-specific channels this year.
•NDTV Emerging Markets, a consulting business owned jointly by NDTV Ltd. and NDTV Networks, specializes in establishing news channels in other countries. It has set up successful operations in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Middle East."

The Middle East here apparently refers to Saudi Arabia - they apparently have a channel called NDTV Arabia.

This raises 2 scary concerns -
1) The obvious - in their quest to please all audiences, is NDTV diluting focus on sponsors of terror - the chief sponsors being their biggest overseas markets!
2) If NDTV was the only channel broadcasting into Pakistan, then doesn;t it imply that the controllers of the Mumbai attackers were watching this channel only, for giving directions?

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