Lending a hand

IN Media Watch Briefs | 16/08/2011

While every channel lived off the fast which wasn't, and the arrest, Times Now adopted Anna's cause. It scrolled, "Raise your voice, India for Anna, maximum coverage on Times Now". Then it went further: "If you want to show your support raise your voice in your city at 7 pm." This was of a piece with its behaviour in April when the channel was giving directions on how to get to the venue of Anna's fast. Scrolling news on the channel of support from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the guru close to the Jain family, made you wonder. Did the Anna fast have the tacit support of the proprietors of Bennett, Coleman and Co, and did that explain why the channel was wanting to help the movement along?

TAGS

Anna Hazare Times Now

Subscribe To The Newsletter

Media Watch Briefs

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.