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News channels gear up for Clinton
It is that time when cameramen
will jostle to get a good angle and TV journalists will
hanker for a sound byte from the US President, Bill Clinton,
and Indian President and Prime Minister. After all, Clinton's
visit to India is big media event.
And almost all the satellite channels and Doordarshan are
trying to find how they can be different from the others.
As managing director of TV Eighteen India Ltd, Raghav Bahl,
said about the coverage on CNBC India, "It will be hectic
time, but we will be focussing more on the business aspect
of Clinton;s visit and what it means for the two countries."
What's more, with the Indian government giving permission
to almost all the channels to go live, the channel managements
are leaving no cameras unturned to bring to their audience
round the world the event which is being billed as one of
the the biggest media events of 2000.
CNN which is not only flying down celebrity anchor Riz Khan
to do special interviews with the likes of Yashwant Sinha
relating to Clinton's visit, but the channel's special event
team too is coming (with the US president) to see there
are no last minute glitches.
"CNN has planned a special series of stories on the US President's
visit and the countdown has already begun with some stories
already on air," a senior executive Turner International
India, the parent company of CNN, said, adding, most of
the programmes will be live.
Zee News, like Star News, will attempt to be different from
the likes of CNNs and BBCs. Beginning with a story on presidential
aircraft, put out yesterday, Zee News, as a senior executive
of Zee pointed out, "will be hoping to do some value additions
on the other aspects of Clinton's visit too, apart from
the political and business angles."
Since a major portion of Zee News' audience are Hindi-speaking,
the channel is trying to do a voice over in Hindi for important
speeches, etc made by the US president.
There'll be every day, beginning Monday, a 30-minute programme
on Clinton's visit from 8.30-9 p.m. till Saturday.
"This apart, we will be following the Clinton family and
the President in Hyderabad, Agra, Rajasthan, Mumbai, etc,"
a senior executive of Star News said.
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is planning one of
its biggest ever series of live broadcasts from South Asia
during the Clinton visit to the region.
Special television and radio programmes will be aired from
Delhi and Islamabad anchored by the BBC's South Asia correspondent
and regional bureau chief Mike Wooldridge.
"This is a historic visit for the region and a crucial news
story for BBC. South Asia is and always has been one of
the cornerstones of BBC's international broadcasting and
this tour will showcase our unrivaled expertise and resources
in broadcast news," Wooldridge said.
BBC had covered the last presidential visit to the region
by Jimmy Carter when many of the news organisations around
today did not even exist, according to Wooldridge.
The BBC's deputy bureau chief Satish Jacob, who covered
the Carter visit to India for the BBC in 1978, will also
be part of the commentary team. India correspondent Daniel
Lak who is traveling the country with the Clinton entourage
and BBC's Washington correspondent Richard Lister as part
of the White House Press Corp to give the inside information
from the Clinton camp.
The live coverage on BBC World television and BBC World
Service radio will start from March 20 evening.
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