Evolution and modern times of Indian television news

If you have changed the news channel in frustration due to the poor quality of information being broadcast, then you are not alone. The quality of content has become so poor in recent times that many prefer watching a daily soap instead. Add to that the negativity that is being spread on the television news channels. Indian television news continues to baffle in its creativity, so what was the reason for such a sharp decline. Let’s read more.

The Not So Good Old Days

The good old days can be considered as the times when Doordarshan first began broadcasting across India in the early 1980s. It started almost like how it is today. News channels were new. They had to match up with the BBCs and the Saturday Night Live shows.

The first news channels were dull as ever. The Doordarshan news reader (obviously new to the job because the channel itself was new to Indian television) would be dressed in saree and well-kempt hair. But the delivery was poor. The newsreader would have her head bent. Then she would start and just go on nonstop. There would be no pause; neither would there be any efforts to look on ahead.

There was almost no field reporting done. There would be no interviews and no quotes even. Live action was absent as well. Over time, field coverage started and before we knew it there was the cable television now being broadcast from our television. Also came in was the large dish antenna on top of every house. Every channel now wanted to come up with their own news hour. The competition got severe and the content was entertaining too.

That was the time when we would switch channels to see who did the masala news or primetime news first. More languages were added, more films came in and the live coverage becomes more refined and to the point. This lasted for a long time until now. Now we have social media which has replaced the frequency of news to barely seconds. Live recordings via Facebook now allow people to share news content with ease.

Conclusion

Indian television news has degraded in its content, but the news channel should not be blamed. News outlets are now making use of social media themselves to reach people faster. The content, however, has reduced thanks to excessive competition. This is because the remote is now replaced by a smartphone. News channels need to write content for an individual now instead of broadcasting news for an entire family sitting on a couch. There needs to be masala, factual and varied news content to keep every individual finger browsing happy.