Better without commentary

IN Media Watch Briefs | 18/04/2013

All through the day on April 17 BBC online had a live streaming of the Thatcher funeral, with no commentary. One heard even the shoes of the soldiers striking the road surface but at the service, everything said was caught. It transported the viewer to the place in real time, as if a participant in the magnificent funeral - right along the roads, standing to see the procession pass by and inside the church, again being there. It proves how the anchors on news TV can be intrusive.

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Amazon resisting voluntary censorship

The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.

Let the games begin

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.