Prasar Bharati trashes NDA bias

[icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu]

Congress sources said they pointed out to the poll commission that L.K.
Advani's Bharat Uday yatra was covered extensively by the national network
and a team of photographers followed the deputy Prime Minister's roadshow
from Kanyakumari to Amritsar and Porbandar to Puri. As Advani was not on
official but party work, Doordarshan had no business to give the yatra the
kind of coverage it did, the Congress said.

Sarma defended the national network's decision to extensively cover Advani's
roadshow. "As a professional news channel, we had to telecast Advani's
yatra, simply because it was news," the CEO said. "If the Congress had held
a similar yatra, we would have given similar coverage. I can't help it if
the Congress party did not think of having a yatra." He added that whatever
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee or his deputy did was news and of public
interest.

"Due representation to the different political parties is sought to be
provided by Doordarshan in a fair and balanced manner, within its larger
purpose of carrying items based on their news value and topicality. It is
not possible, however, to ensure that each party gets exactly the same air
time to the last second," Sarma wrote in his letter.

Source:
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040504/asp/nation/story_3203778.asp