Unpacking the news

Channels varied widely in air time given to same story, ranging from 5 minutes to 44 minutes, or 1 minute plus to 37 minutes plus for a single story.
A study by MANU MOUDGIL and MONAZIR ALAM

What news TV puts out at prime time

Television news rivets the nation each evening. But how well and widely does it inform viewers? Does the news have diversity and balance? How much advertising do the channels inflict on viewers in an hour of broadcast time? How does the public service broadcaster compare withthe others?

The Media Foundation carried out a mapping of select news telecasts for six days in March 2013. In quantitative terms we looked at the following parameters:

METHODOLOGY

 
One-hour telecasts, four each in Hindi and English, were monitored over a period of six days (From March 11 to March 16). The Hindi telecasts monitored were ABP News, NDTV India, Aaj Tak and DD News Hindi. The English telecasts were CNN-IBN, NDTV 24x7, Times Now and DD News English. The one hour of prime time news for each of these telecasts was selected based on the criteria that it was the main news programmes of the night which may or may not include panel discussions and special reports.
 
ABP News, Aaj Tak, NDTV 24x7, CNN-IBN and DD News English were monitored at 9.00-10.00 pm as this was the time slot in which they relayed their main news of the day as well as discussions and special reports. DD News Hindi was monitored at 8.00-9.00 pm since that was the slot reserved for the Hindi telecast on the channel.
 

NDTV India was monitored for 8.00-9.00 pm as this was the slot in which the main news of the day was relayed with or without discussions. The 9.00-10.00 pm slot on NDTV India is reserved solely for panel discussions. Times Now's 9.00-10.00 pm show 'Newshour' hosts long panel discussions while its 8.00-9.00 pm telecast is mostly news. This is why the channel was monitored for 8.30-9.30 pm to ensure a mix of news and panel discussions. A few telecasts were found to extend beyond a one hour time slot but since a standard timeline had to be maintained, this study does not take into account these transgressions.

Highlights of findings

How comprehensive?

DD News had the maximum number of diverse topics covered in both its Hindi and English telecasts during the six days of monitoring. It concentrated more on the day's developments rather than special reports. The number of diverse topics covered in each telecast: 

Date
ABP News
Aaj Tak
 
NDTV India
DD News Hindi
CNN-IBN
NDTV 24x7
Times Now
DD News English
March 11
6
12
11
12
12
9
12
16
March 12
9
5
9
15
10
3
6
15
March 13
6
9
10
13
8
8
6
15
March 14
9
12
11
11
13
4
10
15
March 15
8
11
11
6
9
5
12
10
March 16
8
2
1
12
18
10
8
15
Total
46
51
53
69
70
39
54
86

DD News Hindi had the maximum stories (69) with two discussions every day on the latest news and policy matters. On the other hand, ABP had only 46 diverse topics in its coverage of six days while Aaj Tak had 51. NDTV India gave only half an hour to national news, the other half being allocated to international news and hence did better in coverage of diverse topics (53).

Among the English channels, DD News again scored with the highest number of topics covered (86) while CNN-IBN was second with 70. Times Now's one hour telecast mapped had most of the stories in the first half hour and long discussions in the other half. It had 54 diverse topics which was better than NDTV 24x7 which had only 39 topics thanks to its long discussions which frequently extended beyond 30 minutes. 

 
 

Contrasting duration of coverage

The study found that coverage of the same story (the death of the Delhi gangrape accused in Tihar Jail) could vary across the 8 channels from 1 minute 21 seconds in duration to 37 minutes 23 seconds. In another instance (the terrorist attack in Kashmir against the backdrop of the demand for the withdrawal of AFSPA), it ranged from 5 minutes 18 seconds to 44 minutes 44 seconds.

(WOULD THIS TABLE BELOW BE MORE VISUALLY POWERFUL AS A GRAPH?) A 

  Death of Delhi gangrape accused in Tihar jail Boxer Vijender Singh and drug haul India-Italy stand off on issue of marines Terrorist attack in Kashmir and AFSPA Indo-Pak relations post resolutions on Afzal Guru Cobra Post expose on money laundering by private banks Anti-rape bill
ABP News 1 min 21 sec 17 sec 5 min 19 sec 16 min 40 sec 5 min 30 sec 2 min 50 sec 19 min 35 sec
NDTV India
3 min
 
2 min 25 sec 1 hour 4 min 55 sec 15 min 3 min 57 sec 3 min 53 sec 8 min 53 sec
Aaj Tak 11 min 28 sec 3 min 44 sec 30 sec  15 min 8 sec 11 min 36 sec 0 16 min 42 sec
DD News Hindi 7 min 7 sec 6 min 59 sec 35 min 14 sec 19 min 16 sec 19 min 49 sec 3 min 3 sec 19 min 1 sec
CNN-IBN 36 min 58 sec 3 min 46 sec 53 min 22 sec 44 min 34 sec 6 min 9 sec 39 min 13 sec 9 min 1 sec
NDTV 24x7 37 min 23 sec 18 sec 1 hour 23 min 3 sec 5 min 26 sec 2 min 24 sec 34 min 40 sec 12 sec
Times Now 34 min 35 sec 11 sec 39 min 12 sec 23 min 36 sec 32 min 9 sec 0 0
DD News English 5 min 23 sec 5 min 28 sec 43 min 2 sec 18 min 3 sec 33 min 29 sec 0 24 min 23 sec

 

Exclusive stories and missed stories

We defined exclusive stories on DD as those no other channel carried. We defined missed stories as those all other channels carried.

For this parameter we took five weekdays, March 11 to 15. Only on one day, March 11, did DD’s English bulletin have one such miss:

‘Supreme Court's notice to states on police reforms.

 
Date Exclusive stories by DD News Hindi Missed stories by DD News Hindi Exclusive stories by DD News English Missed stories by DD News English
March 11
Auction of 2G CDMA spectrum
Selection process of judges to be revamped soon
CBI files case in coal gate scam
Rajasthan signs business agreement with South Korea for investments
None
Selection process of judges to be revamped soon
Auction of 2G CDMA spectrum
Changes proposed in Delhi University’s curriculum
Pranab Mukherjee’s Mauritius visit
Nuclear radiation risk after two years of Japan’s tsunami
Supreme Court's notice to states on police reforms
March 12
Delhi Police drop charges against those arrested for death of constable Subhash Tomar during anti-rape agitations
 
Road accident in Mathura
 
Bail plea of accused cop in Arun Jaitley's phone tapping case rejected
 
Save Yamuna Campaign
 
Retail Inflation News
 
Irregularities in coal block distribution
World Bank's financial aid to Uttar Pradesh
India win hockey match against Pakistan 3-1
Remembering 
Mahatama Gandhi on 83 years of Dandi March
None
Road accident in Mathura
 
J & K Assembly demands return of Afzal Guru's body to his family
 
Cop's bail plea rejected in Arun Jaitley's phone tapping case
 
Violence rocks Bangladesh
Egypt police strike
Inflation / industrial production report
None
March 13
34 MIG crashes in last 5 years
Railway budget passed
Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad airports among the best internationally
PCI forms committee to decide minimum qualification for journalists
None
34 MIG crashes in last 5 years
Railway budget passed
Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad airports among best internationally
Parliament debate on inflation and market slowdown
Snow storm in north western Europe
US Mars mission findings
PCI forms committee to suggest minimum qualification for journalists
DRDO's computer hacked
None
March 14
Sri Lankan Navy arrest Tamilnadu fisherman
India out of Azlan Shah Hockey tournament
India-Australia Test cricket update
None
NIA team in Bihar to probe Hyderabad case
9 Congress MLA suspended in Punjab for unparliamentry behaviour
Inflation goes up
Air travel becomes cheaper
Chill returns to Himachal Pradesh
Loksabha clears general budget 2013-14.
India out of Azlan Shah Hockey tournament
India-Australia test cricket update
Anger and outrage by CPRF jawans in J & K as no politician arrives for CRPF memorial ceremony of martyrs of terrorist attack
March 15 None
Airports alerted to bar Italian ambassador from leaving India
India-Australia test cricket news
 
 
Odisha law and urban development minister resigns on dowry harassment allegations
Five school children killed in mishap in Punjab
SC accepts PIL on Juvenile Justice Act
None