News Broadcasting
PM wants media to check sensationalism & paid news
NEW DELHI: Ruling out any outside regulation of the media, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the representatives of media should among themselves find a way by which objectivity and impartiality gets encouragement and sensationalism is reduced.
Singh also felt that the media in the country can itself take care of the ‘ills‘ like paid news and urged it to reduce sensationalism in coverage.
“I am very happy that the media of our country is by and large independent and alive. . Ever since we have got independence, discussions have been going on in the country about the role of the media and the manner in which it functions”.
Stressing on the need to let media self-regulate, he said that in his opinion “there is a general consensus in our country that no outside control should be imposed over the media.”
He was speaking at a function here in which he released a book and a postage stamp issued in the memory of late Puran Chandra Gupta, the founder of Hindi daily Dainik Jagaran.
Noting that it is good for the country‘s democracy that the reach of both the electronic and print media has increased substantially due to new technology, Singh said: “I am confident that Indian media will itself take steps to wipe out the ills like paid news and will also be successful in it. You should also pay attention on how to increase the coverage of those issues, which are really important for our country.”
Lauding Gupta for encouraging independent and fearless reporting throughout his life, Singh said such journalism is quite necessary for any democracy.
News Broadcasting
News TV viewership jumps 33 per cent as West Asia war draws audiences
BARC Week 8 data shows news share rising to 8 per cent despite T20 World Cup
NEW DELHI: Even as individual television news channel ratings remain under a temporary pause, the genre itself is seeing a clear surge in audience attention.
According to the latest data from Broadcast Audience Research Council India, television news recorded a 33 per cent jump in genre share in Week 8 of 2026, covering February 28 to March 6.
The news genre accounted for 8 per cent of total television viewership during the week, up from 6 per cent the previous week. The spike in attention coincided with escalating geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which have kept global headlines firmly fixed on West Asia.
The rise is notable because it came at a time when cricket was dominating television screens. The high-stakes stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, including the Super 8 fixtures and semi-finals, were being broadcast during the same period.
Despite the cricket frenzy, viewers appeared to be toggling between sport and global affairs, boosting the overall share of news programming.
The surge in genre share comes even as the government has enforced a one-month pause on publishing ratings for individual news channels. The move followed regulatory scrutiny of the television ratings ecosystem.
While channel-level rankings remain temporarily out of sight, the genre-level data suggests that when global tensions escalate, audiences continue to turn to television news for real-time updates.
