‘Manufactured hysteria’: Former NDTV journalist Maya Sharma on why TV news has become ‘unwatchable’

Over the years, I was frequently introduced to people this way: “This is Maya Sharma. You must have seen her on NDTV!”

The person I was being introduced to in this rather embarrassing fashion was sometimes totally clueless as to who I was – and I think I had a suitably awkward facial expression for such occasions. But there were those who had indeed seen me on the box and seemed happy to meet me. They would talk about a story or programme of mine that they had seen, and say nice things about my colleagues too. Prannoy Roy was spoken of with awe and affection. In later years, people were curious about Barkha Dutt. And then, it was Ravish Kumar who was talked about with a sense close to reverence.

Very, very rarely was there a dismissive reaction in the early years of private television news. Those who didn’t watch TV news usually qualified that behaviour with a reason for it – perhaps there was a child at home in a crucial public exam year, and there was a need to remove temptations and distractions like a TV set from the house! They felt they needed to explain why they were not...

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