News Broadcasting
Journalists welfare fund extended to electronic, non-accredited media
NEW DELHI: Even journalists not accredited to the Press Information Bureau (PIB), and electronic mediapersons, are now entitled of financial help under the Journalists Welfare Fund.
This follows amendment of rules, which also included increasing the ex-gratia payment.
According to Information and Broadcasting Ministry secretary Raghu Menon, an ex-gratia of Rs 500,000 would be paid to the family in the event of the demise of a mediaperson on duty, a maximum of Rs 300,000 would be given for treatment, and Rs 200,000 for injury.
The scheme was formulated in 2001-02 and provided for payment of ex-gratia relief of Rs 100,000 to journalists or to their families in case of death, permanent disability or extreme hardship on account of the journalist’s death.
The scheme has been extended with effect from 8 April to cover electronic mediapersons also.
Upto Rs 500,000 would be provided to the family under extreme hardship on account of the journalist’s death or permanent disability, he said.
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:Â 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.
