There has been saturation coverage by television channels of Anna Hazare's fast
reporting every twist and turn in the protest saga 24x7 for the last about two weeks. But has it been critical and unbiased or one-sided in approval?
By and large, media experts feel that television coverage was biased in favour of the 74-year-old activist, uncritical in its sweep and adulatory sometimes.
There was a lone voice of support for news television channels from noted journalist and Editor and Managing Director of Pioneer newspaper Chandan Mitra, who feels it was not the case.
"By its very nature, television is a very biased medium. Whenever a big issue or a campaign like this crops up, news channels try to be on top of it. This is the trend that prevails everywhere," says Bhaskar Rao, director, Centre for
Media Studies. "But unfortunately in the Anna Hazare case, I think TV
channels have overdone it," Rao said.