In an Indian catastrophe, only the Indian news channels deliver Indian news chan

IN Media Practice | 02/09/2002

In an Indian catastrophe, only the Indian news channels deliver Indian news channels

In an Indian catastrophe, only the Indian news channels deliver Indian news channels

captured live the terror in parliament, international news channels were busy with Usama.

Live TV unmasks face of terror for Indian millions

By Rezaul H. Laskar and Vishnu Makhijani, Indo-Asian News Service

American media remains as self-absorbed as ever

By Ela Dutt, Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, Dec 14 (IANS) The generally faceless terrorist stood unmasked for the first time Thursday in India as network television played out the attack on Parliament in graphic detail in front of millions of Indians.
Television reporters risked their lives capturing live images of the shoot-out as many of them did stand-up live reporting of the unfolding story.
Viewers watched in horror as graphic footage showed the mayhem unleashed by five terrorists, who barged into the Parliament complex with guns blazing and were threatening a catastrophe before being killed.
By then, the terrorists had gunned down seven people, including four policemen, and injured 20 -- much of which news cameramen caught on videotape while being fired at by the terrorists.
Most Indian news channels place large crews in and around the Parliament whenever it is in session, as it was Thursday, and these cameramen and reporters played a major role in providing live coverage of the strike.

New York, Dec 14 (IANS) American media remained self-absorbed, splashing tapes of Osama bin Laden, even as the Indian Parliament was subjected to a terror attack that should have made headlines in a country besieged by terrorists.

The U.S. administration though did not mirror the callous disregard for what happened in the halls of Parliament in the world¿s largest democracy.

The so-called amateur video of bin Laden, enjoying a social gathering while he discussed the success of his alleged attacks at the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, dominated media coverage here.

With an almost uninterrupted stream of reactions -- from relatives of victims, legislators, talking heads, think tanks, terrorist experts, Arabic language experts, reactions in other countries, reactions of journalists, man-on-the-street, anyone and everyone -- expounding on either the authenticity, veracity, or the image bin Laden projected or didn¿t project went on to the exclusion of everything else

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