[AZT]

Originally Posted by GTO

For now, Doordarshan, NBC's nightly summary & a little bit of Al Jazeera is fulfilling our news craving.

I recently started watching Al Jazeera and they also have brilliant documentaries. Witness, People & Power and AJ Investigates are the shows they come under. I'd also suggest checking in.mobile.reuters.com every morning. The mobile site is crisp and has 5 sections (Top News, Business, India, World and Technology). Beats every news website in reporting including livemint.com which I find is the best among Indian News sites. TOI has become full garbage and even their web lay out is spammy and cluttered with ads.

[deathwalkr]

On CNN-News 18 with Zakka Jacob, there was a show where he only spoke about the top news around from within and outside the country. It was such a joy to watch. No bias, no discussions, no shouting...just news.

Sorry but i forgot the show name and timing.

Edit: i think it was called Brass tacks

[bimal_67]

Originally Posted by GTO

Watched Doordarshan last night (via YouTube) and it was a revelation. Straight-hard news ..

For NEWS it is Doordarshan all the way. Then for News and Features, recommend RS TV (Rajya Sabha TV).
The rest all are VIEWS and not NEWS

[kittigadu]

in 2017, I have co-founded a company called CallFREE. Its a Telephone-based content delivery service designed for semi-urban and rural India which works on basic telephony and we were Vernacular.

Basically, you call a toll free number and listen to the latest headlines of that time which lasts for about 1.5 to 2 minutes. New headlines are refreshed every 15 minutes. I guess, we had a bad business model and we went belly-up after 1.5 years. Though we had 7 different genres of content on 7 toll-free numbers, News was the most popular with almost 30K calls per day.

I remember that during that time, there were heavy rains in Hyderabad and a part of it had power outages and waterlogging. During those 4 days, we hit almost 80K calls per day. I was responsible for all things technical. We built some analytics on the data and were really surprised and amused.

Not a day goes by on how I wish we were still running the service.

Regards,
Krishna.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by GTO

Watched Doordarshan last night (via YouTube) and it was a revelation. Straight-hard news, no opinions, clean layout and everything you need to know in 30 - 45 minutes . Never ever expected this from Doordarshan! It's like looking for a 5-star hotel and ending up in an impressive government lodging. Well done!

Sharing the perfect schedule with links for anyone in the same dilemma. Thanks again for the Doordarshan recommendation

2030 hours: Fire up DD on YouTube. 30 minutes cover the Indian as well as international headlines:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtU0zh9J2uc

I'm really starting to love this guy! Straight & simple news, absolutely no masala:


2100 hours: NBC with Lester for 20 minutes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du6m3W5d3jQ

2130 hours: Al Jazeera for a bit. Optional, but their 2130 hours show is really good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WisZM9CMlTo

[svaid]

In the case of TV channels, I prefer WION these days as they just readout of the news instead of debating over individual topics with a panel.
Their coverage of the current pandemic is also much more holistic.

[Thilak29]

English : Google News or InShorts. No TV channel.
Kannada : Mostly ePapers and occasional visits to sites. No TV channel.
Malayalam : Manorama News - they have news format where headlines are read and about 30 of them are covered in a span of 15 mins. I find Mathrubhumi and Asianet News channels worthy. English sources of OnManorama and Mathrubhumi are good.
Pan South : No Channel (business opportunity!) - Read NewsMinute.

[luvDriving]

There is really a world of difference between the 'mainstream' news channels and DD News. I am talking about regional Marathi channels to be more specific.

News channels like Ibn lokmat or ABP Majha or any other believe in sensationalizing news - making each and every news item a breaking news. Shouting and using weird tonal quality basically to scare viewers I think and keep them fixated on the news.

DD News on the other hand is just that - news. No drama, no shouting or weird music etc.

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by luvDriving

News channels like Ibn lokmat or ABP Majha or any other believe in sensationalizing news - making each and every news item a breaking news. Shouting and using weird tonal quality basically to scare viewers I think and keep them fixated on the news.

DD News on the other hand is just that - news. No drama, no shouting or weird music etc.

Totally agree. I see exactly the same dramatics on Kannada news channels. The way they speak about each and every item of news is just scary to the normal public, like it's a doomsday announcement.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by GTO

....

I'm really starting to love this guy! Straight & simple news, absolutely no masala...

Friend and ex-colleague of the better half from her publishing days. Brilliant chap.

[Mik]

My news sources in order of preference are

Al jazeera and BBC - to actually know what is happening around the world.
CNN - just for some Trump bashing.
NDTV - In case I get interested in a human story. Even there, its mostly the battle hardened folks like Ravish Kumar.
Twitter - for breaking news and quick checks.

As far as the rest of the channels go - I feel they are filth. Tried watching, but the atrocious level of reporting and the histrionics with political overtones put me off for good.

I am also the resident fact-checker in my family group So people think twice before uploading any coloured content.

[C300]

DD news is the best. Even AIR news is to the point without any masala. AIR app is simple and great place to enjoy good old airwaves. WION is another good channel.

[trinity0114]

To the point, noiseless news - DD, WION

Pro Government/News from the 'Right'- Zee News, Republic Media Network

Neurtal news(both from 'Right' & 'Left' Angles depending upon the situation) - Aaj Tak, ABP News, CNN News18, IndiaTV

Anti Government/News from the 'Left'/Outright Propanganda - NDTV, Quint, Print, Wire, Scroll, Newslaundry, BrutIndia, Scoopwhoop, Altnews, BBC, Al Jazeera

[vibbs]

I have stopped watching news on TV. I just cant stand antics of Arnabs in our country (from either side of the spectrum). Old fashioned news broadcast is no longer the norm. What we get are opinions peddled in name of news aimed at brainwashing the audience to a particular view point.

Even in online news, I try to focus more on the facts and events mentioned in the piece rather than the view point being shoved.

[ABHI_1512]

There are no news these days, only stories. The amount of filth that has taken over the news channels these days is disgusting. Although a particular and the oldest private group still maintains some sanctity of the medium and so some prime time shows are watchable. I have stopped watching news long back but keep abreast myself without the happenings through the print. Good old newspapers like The Telegraph and The Hindu do the work for me and then Twitter is always there as well. And during these lock down days, what I felt is that the newspapers also are publishing some relevant news and not the usual junk accompanied by colourful supplements !