News Broadcasting
NBC News sacks journalist in misleading coverage case
MUMBAI: Facing flak over misleading coverage of Trayvon Martin murder in March, NBC News correspondent Lilia Luciano who was part of the team that covered the incident has been fired.
The case dates back to 22 March when NBC News broadcast an edited segment from a 911 (US‘ national emergency number) call placed by George Zimmerman at the time of the killing of Trayvon Martin.
In the NBC segment in which Luciano was the correspondent, the channel twisted the actual transcript of the call between the Dispatcher and Zimmerman to give an impression that the later was a ‘racist‘. NBC‘s broadcast kept harping on Trayvon Martin’s ethnicity.
The transcript that NBC put out on its show read, “This guy looks like he’s up to no good or he’s on drugs or something. He looks black.”
However, the unedited tape shows the following conversation:
Zimmerman: “This guy looks like he‘s up to no good, or he‘s on drugs or something. It‘s raining and he‘s just walking around, looking about.”
911 operator: “Okay. And this guy, is he white, black, or Hispanic?”
Zimmerman: “He looks black.”
The editing led a media watchdog organisation to accuse NBC News of engaging in “an all-out falsehood”.
While NBC News initially refused to comment, the news broadcaster did issue an apology to viewers.
“During our investigation it became evident that there was an error made in the production process that we deeply regret. We will be taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening in the
future and apologize to our viewers,” NBC News said in a statement.
This is the second head to roll as reporter Jeff Burnside from WTVJ in Miami was earlier dismissed.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
