• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, Feb. 18

IS it a case of pure economics or lack of expertise? As part of its preparations to cover the possible war between the US and Iraq, Doordarshan has appointed the Saeed Naqvi-promoted Third Eye Productions to produce a 30-minute special programme daily.

This decision was taken despite the fact that the national broadcaster, Doordarshan (DD), has about 45 reporters with over 10-15 years experience. Defending the decision, Dr S. Y. Quraishi, Director General, DD, said, "Our reporters do not have enough experience to cover the war. We had worked out the economics and commissioning the show turned out to be a cheaper option." The commissioning fee has been fixed at Rs 5 lakh per day.

The reason for DD to have a special programme and not rely on feeds from other international news channels is to offer the Indian perspective. Hence the show has been tentatively named Gulf War II: India Cares, India Counts.

Reporter-cameraman teams would be sent to Baghdad, Turkey, Jerusalem and Kuwait for regular news coverage from this zone where war clouds are looming large. Prasar Bharati already has its crew stationed at Washington, which happens to be another strategic location in the US-Iraq war game.

Besides this, the national broadcaster is also planning to give a new look to its studios and coverage. Live coverage of the Railway Budget and Union Budget on both Doordarshan and AIR will also be done.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Taj Leisure Hotels upgrades properties, services

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line