Sheena Bora murder case ruled prime-time TV coverage

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.

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”.

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.

“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.

“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.

“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.