News Broadcasting
Maintain sobriety instead of presenting news in a sensational manner: Lalli
NEW DELHI: In India’s highly cluttered private satellite television news market, the Prasar Bharati chief executive officer BS Lalli has a message: maintain sobriety instead of presenting news in a sensational manner.
While applauding the move by the TV news industry to self-regulate in a purposeful fashion, Lalli stressed on the need to maintain the sensibilities of the people in a widely pluralistic country.
“I am happy to note that news channels have been fairly responsible in their coverage and have been indulging in self-regulation of content. Sobriety rather than sensationalism should be the requirement of the hour,” Lalli said here today, while inaugurating the third Indian News Television (NT) Summit.
He said DD News, which airs 16 hours of live news daily, continued to remain the only bilingual news channel telecasting in Hindi and English, apart from bulletins in Urdu and Sanskrit.
The primary aim of the government and the public broadcaster was to reach those large areas still uncovered by television so that citizens could be “empowered with objective facts and dispassionate analysis” since this was the “heart and hallmark of a democracy”.
Lalli said TV had seen phenomenal growth in the country and from just Doordarshan in the early nineties, the country now had over 500 channels being downlinked to Indian viewers, opening up the skies to rapid expansion.
All India Radio had added around 122 news bulletins over the past few years in different languages, he added.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to host Kolkata Town Hall on Hooghly River
‘Bhalobasa Bengal Inspiring Bharat’ event on April 20 brings cultural icons, trailblazing women and leaders aboard a cruise to celebrate Bengal’s enduring influence.
MUMBAI: Bengal is about to make fresh waves on the Hooghly and this time the current is pure conversation. CNN-News18 is taking its iconic Town Hall format to the waters of the iconic Hooghly River on 20 April 2026 with a special edition titled ‘Bhalobasa Bengal – Inspiring Bharat’. The floating event will celebrate the state’s rich cultural legacy and how its ideas, creativity and spirit continue to shape the rest of the country.
The unique riverside setting draws on Bengal’s history as a cradle of reform, art and intellectual thought. The speaker line-up mirrors that diversity: cultural heavyweights Mithun Chakraborty and Sreenanda Shankar will share the stage with trailblazing “Devis” such as Tanya Sanyal (India’s first woman firefighter in aviation), Ipsita Chakraborty (Kolkata’s first woman bartender) and Reshma Nilofer Visalakshi (Nari Shakti awardee and marine pilot). Music will flow through the celebrated pianist-vocalist duo Sourendro and Soumyojit, while public life and governance will be represented by Smriti Irani, Leander Paes, Saira Shah Halim, Keya Ghosh, Rekha Patra, Roopa Ganguly and Babul Supriyo.
CNN-News18, editorial affairs director, Rahul Shivshankar, said the event honours voices that carry Bengal’s legacy forward. Smriti Mehra, CEO – English & Business News, Network18, added that Bengal’s stories resonate far beyond its borders, especially as the state heads into polls.
From the first woman to battle flames in the skies to legendary actors who shaped Indian cinema, the gathering promises a rich mix of inspiration, courage and candid dialogue. In a city where culture has always flowed as freely as the river itself, CNN-News18 is turning the Hooghly into a floating forum for ideas that matter.
Tune in on 20 April on CNN-News18, CTV and YouTube to catch Bengal’s heartbeat in full flow.
