Sridevi’s death had created havoc all across. She passed away on the 24th of February and since then, all news channels were busy reporting the news.
However, as soon as the report stating the cause of her death as “Accidental drowning” came out, some news channels crossed all limits of reporting. Yes, we actually saw some reporters lying down in the bathtub and giving it the title “Maut Ka Bathtub”. We were damn frustrated to see such insensitive reporting; even people slammed them for making this issue so dramatic.
But today, we came across a video by NDTV, in which it is shown why news channels resort to such techniques while reporting.
Here’s the video…
Click here to watch the video directly on Facebook.
Why news channels cross all limits?
In this, managing editor of NDTV Sunil Saini explains why it is necessary for news channels to do so. Well, in order to run a news channel, lot of investment is needed. He explains how people pay Rs 150 per month on newspapers, but just Rs 2 on news channels. Hence, it becomes highly difficult to meet the costs.
For example, when they send a reporter to another state to grab a piece of news, they have to spend,
Rs 10,000 on flight tickets
Rs 500 per day on daily allowance
Rs 4000 for local taxi
Rs 1000 extra expenses
Hence, the cost of reporting 1 story comes to around 15,000. Likewise, they have to cover multiple stories daily. Moreover, the yearly cost of channel distribution is around 30 crores. So, how do they recover this cost? Well, it is through TRPs.
They are highly dependent on advertisers for revenue; advertisers are ready to pay only when they get a good reach. For a good reach, good TRPs are important. Good TRPs are possible only when viewers are engaged through such content.
He also says that it’s not only the fault of news channel but also the fault of people who wish to consume such news.
It was necessary to report from the bathtub and NDTV rightly proved it.