<p>The Sheena Bora murder case involving Indrani Mukerjea nee Bora was the toast of prime-time television, with six national channels together devoting 38 hours of prime time, according to an analysis by a private media watchdog.<br /><br />The analysis by New Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies (CMS) showed the coverage in effect resulted in “transforming a crime story into a national concern” and news channels becoming a medium for “entertainment rather than for insights or inside stories”.<br /><br />Six major channels together devoted 2,282 minutes in the 8-10 pm slot between August 25 and September 8, with “Times Now” devoting the highest — 948 minutes and 10 seconds out of the 1,800 minutes available during this period.<br /><br />“CNN-IBN”, another English channel, gave 424 minutes and 10 seconds to the story during prime time, while “DD News” had the lowest coverage during the period — 36 minutes and 10 seconds, said CMS Media Lab.</p>.<p><br />“Aaj Tak” (341 min 50 sec), “Zee News” (268 min 25 sec) and “ABP News” (263 min 15 sec) were the other channels, which were studied by the group.<br /><br />“This kind of emphasis on a murder came at a time when there were more important crises like the Assam floods and farmer suicides waiting to be covered. The coverage was melodrama-driven and not fact-driven. Making this murder case a national concern is actually a national waste of time,” CMS Media Lab head Prabhakar told Deccan Herald.<br /></p>
<p>The Sheena Bora murder case involving Indrani Mukerjea nee Bora was the toast of prime-time television, with six national channels together devoting 38 hours of prime time, according to an analysis by a private media watchdog.<br /><br />The analysis by New Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies (CMS) showed the coverage in effect resulted in “transforming a crime story into a national concern” and news channels becoming a medium for “entertainment rather than for insights or inside stories”.<br /><br />Six major channels together devoted 2,282 minutes in the 8-10 pm slot between August 25 and September 8, with “Times Now” devoting the highest — 948 minutes and 10 seconds out of the 1,800 minutes available during this period.<br /><br />“CNN-IBN”, another English channel, gave 424 minutes and 10 seconds to the story during prime time, while “DD News” had the lowest coverage during the period — 36 minutes and 10 seconds, said CMS Media Lab.</p>.<p><br />“Aaj Tak” (341 min 50 sec), “Zee News” (268 min 25 sec) and “ABP News” (263 min 15 sec) were the other channels, which were studied by the group.<br /><br />“This kind of emphasis on a murder came at a time when there were more important crises like the Assam floods and farmer suicides waiting to be covered. The coverage was melodrama-driven and not fact-driven. Making this murder case a national concern is actually a national waste of time,” CMS Media Lab head Prabhakar told Deccan Herald.<br /></p>
