Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad   

‘Crime, politics dominate news channels’

HYDERABAD: A study by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) has shown that crime and politics dominate news bulletins of several Telugu TV channels while health, education, environment and agriculture get a poor coverage.

The study, which covers the bulletins in 2007, also reveals that most of the news originated from Hyderabad. News from various regions and other States got lower preference, says N. Bhaskara Rao, CMS chairman, and Atluri Subba Rao, president of Federation of AP Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI).

They were speaking at a news conference to announce highlights of a field study head of presentation of awards to be given away by the FAPCCI for excellence in electronic media next month.

They said there were 38 Telugu TV channels of which five were 24-hour news channels. The number of round-the-clock news channels would go up to eight shortly. The general channels enjoyed viewership twice that of news channels. However, the competition amongst the news channels had helped in expanding their viewership base. More than one-third of new viewers added to the news channels and most of them were from urban centres, but had little education. The bulletins were not attractive enough for rural viewers.

There were indications that viewers preferred news bulletins of non-news channels for comprehensive coverage with less repeats.

They also said 35 per cent of viewers of news bulletins were added in the last one year following proliferation of the channels. The credibility of news channels was higher among older people and those less educated. Their credibility had declined marginally among urban viewers.

Awards to the best TV channels would be presented on the basis of the study as well as the recommendations of a jury headed by K.S. Sarma, former Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati, and outcome of meetings with citizens groups.

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