For those mostly fed on national news TV, editorial stands of regional news TV will be interesting. In some news TV regional markets, for example Tamil Nadu and perhaps even Kerala, the backer-to-editorial line relationship for some broadcasters is clear. In some other markets discerning the relationship can be a small diversion. Bengali news TV seems to partly fall in this category. It doesn’t take a long time to form initial hypotheses about the prisms through which some broadcasters’ view news. Discerning consumers of Bengali TV news say it is possible to construct a statistically robust model that will predict a local’s politics from his/her TV news source.

Big regional broadcasters have an advantage over premier national broadcasters — the former seem to be under less pressure to provide analytical perspective on news. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying national broadcasters provide excellent analytical perspective as a matter of routine. But they feel they have to try. Regional news TV seems less encumbered by such expectation and, consequentially, seems to have a more carefree approach to journalism. Anchors, for example, seem content with having an easy conversation with reporters. None of that strain that comes when anchors think they have to ask what will be considered searching questions — you see quite a bit of that on NDTV and CNN-IBN, and sometimes on Times Now.

What’s the biggest conclusion from watching local news-heavy regional news TV? This country needs national broadcasters. Just as it needs the English language.

... contd.