Sakshi TV

Sakshi TV
Façade of Sakshi TV building
CountryIndia
Broadcast areaIndia
NetworkSakshi Media Group
HeadquartersHyderabad, Telangana, India[1]
Programming
Language(s)Telugu
Picture format4:3/16:9
Ownership
ParentIndira Television Ltd.[2]
Key peopleY. S. Bharathi Reddy (Chairperson)
History
Launched1 March 2009 (15 years ago) (2009-03-01)
FounderY. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy
Links
WebsiteSakshi.com

Sakshi TV (transl. The Witness)[3] is an Indian Telugu-language 24-hour news channel. It was launched on 1 March 2009, by Indira Television Ltd. owned by Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.[4][5] It is currently run under the chairmanship of Y. S. Bharathi Reddy, wife of Jagan Mohan Reddy.[6][7] The media group also owns the Telugu daily newspaper, Sakshi.[8]

The channel is widely regarded as a propaganda outlet for Jagan Mohan Reddy and his political party—YSR Congress Party (YCP).[14] It has been criticized for its biased coverage of the political rivals of Reddy and YCP.[9][15][16] Sakshi TV has been found to be in breach of the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) code of ethics on various occasions.[17][18] On 20 January 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs denied security clearance to the channel citing intelligence reports. As of February 2022, the channel is functional following a temporary stay it obtained from the Telangana High Court.

History

The channel started airing on 1 March 2009.[4][5] It is promoted by Indira Television Ltd., with Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y. S. Rajashekhara Reddy, as the Chairman.[8][19] According to a CBI chargesheet filed against Jagan Mohan Reddy, the investments in his media companies were quid pro quo[20] bribes by those people who had benefited from their unfair deals with his father's government.[21][22][23][24]

The channel was initially named Indira Priyadarsini.[8] According to Ramakrishna Reddy, the first Editor-in-Chief of the channel, it was renamed to cash in on the popularity of the Sakshi newspaper which was launched a year before the channel by Jagan Mohan Reddy.[8] At its launch, the channel claimed to be the first HDTV channel in the country. It was marketed as being primarily targeted at the youth.[8]

Of the nearly ₹40 crore (US$4.8 million) the government of Andhra Pradesh spent on advertising in electronic media for the years 2009-12, Sakshi TV got advertisements worth over ₹17 crore (US$2.0 million). This was attributed to the undue preferential treatment Sakshi TV and Sakshi newspaper received during the chief ministership of Rajasekhara Reddy.[5][21]

It is currently run under the chairmanship of Y. S. Bharathi Reddy, wife of Jagan Mohan Reddy.[25][6][7] In January 2019, Sakshi Media Group appointed Vinay Maheshwari as its Executive Director and CEO.[6] Maheshwari exited the company in March 2022.[26]

On 20 January 2022, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs denied security clearance to Sakshi TV, along with a Malayalam channel MediaOne, based on intelligence inputs received from various central government agencies.[27][28] The channel had filed a writ petition at Telangana High Court and, as of February 2022, it is surviving on a temporary stay until further hearing and another extension of the same on 8 August 2022.[29][27][needs update]

Content

Sakshi TV broadcasts regional, national, and international news. It also has programmes on restaurant reviews, automobiles, cookery and entertainment.[4]

Criticism

Sakshi TV is widely perceived as a propaganda outlet for Jagan Mohan Reddy.[9][10][11][12] It has been criticized for its biased coverage of the political rivals of Reddy and his party YSR Congress Party.[9][15][16] The channel has been found to be in breach of the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) code of ethics on various occasions.[18][17]

Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy's death and conspiracy theory

In January 2010, Sakshi TV broadcast a conspiracy theory by the American journalist Mark Ames in the Russian online tabloid The eXile, on the death of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, father of Jagan Mohan Reddy, in a helicopter crash on 2 September 2009. It alleged that Ambani brothers – Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani – of Reliance Group orchestrated the death.[30][31] TV5 channel broke the story while Sakshi TV and NTV relayed the report aired by TV5.[32][30]

The report led to massive attacks against the business establishments owned by the two Ambani brothers in Andhra Pradesh.[33][34][35] On 8 January 2010, criminal cases were filed against Sakshi TV and NTV while two senior journalists of TV5 were arrested.[32][36] Editors Guild of India asked the channels to desist from "irresponsible reporting" and condemned the reporting as sensational and against the principles of journalism.[35]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Contact us | మమ్మల్ని సంప్రదించండి". Sakshi.com (in Telugu). 15 June 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Complaints Redressal". Sakshi TV. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  3. ^ Ngwainmbi, Emmanuel K. (18 September 2017). Citizenship, Democracies, and Media Engagement among Emerging Economies and Marginalized Communities. Springer. p. 134. ISBN 978-3-319-56215-5.
  4. ^ a b c "Sakshi TV aims to break clutter in the Telugu news space". afaqs!. 24 March 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "After CBI squeeze, govt stops ads to Sakshi". The Times of India. 11 May 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "Sakshi Media Group appoints Vinay Maheshwari as Executive Director & CEO". Exchange4media. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Congress might soon join the list of political parties owning news channels". Mint. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d e Behl, Vinod (20 March 2009). "India's first HDTV channel Sakshi launched". Exchange4media. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d "All you wanted to know about who owns the South Indian news channels you watch". The News Minute. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2022. The channel is actively used by Jagan Mohan Reddy for political propaganda, especially against his political rivals. When he was arrested the channel ran consistent campaign claiming Jagan was innocent.
  10. ^ a b Jeffrey, Robin; Sen, Ronojoy (29 September 2015). Media at Work in China and India: Discovering and Dissecting. SAGE Publications India. ISBN 978-93-5150-545-7.
  11. ^ a b Rodrigues, Usha M.; Ranganathan, Maya (26 November 2014). Indian News Media: From Observer to Participant. SAGE Publications India. ISBN 978-93-5150-464-1.
  12. ^ a b "YSR gets a much-needed "off" on Sakshi TV". Indian Journalism Review. 28 April 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  13. ^ Shaw, Padmaja (13 April 2017). "Who wants to own Telugu news channels?". The Hoot. Retrieved 27 October 2022. The channel has clearly been an instrument in promoting the political interests of Jaganmohan Reddy and the YSRCP.
  14. ^ [9][10][11][12][13]
  15. ^ a b A, Srinivasa Rao (27 July 2012). "Congress in Andhra Pradesh mulls its own TV channel, newspaper". India Today. Retrieved 25 October 2022. In the last one year, Jagan launched an offensive against the Congress government and the party through his media house - Sakshi television channel and Telugu daily.
  16. ^ a b Oskarsson, Patrik (19 September 2018). Landlock: Paralysing Dispute over Minerals on Adivasi Land in India. ANU Press. pp. 141, 179. ISBN 978-1-76046-251-2.
  17. ^ a b "News Broadcasters Association - Fifth Annual Report 2011-12" (PDF). Retrieved 25 October 2022. NBSA therefore held that Sakshi TV was in breach of NBA Code of Ethics and Guidelines particularly the provisions relating to accuracy, impartiality, objectivity, neutrality and privacy in reporting.
  18. ^ a b "NBSA hauls up CNN-IBN, Aaj Tak and Sakshi TV for breach of guidelines". Indiantelevision.com. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  19. ^ Lakshman, Ganesh (9 May 2012). "Owner of Sakshi TV and newspaper Y S Jaganmohan Reddy files case challenging the freezing of the Sakshi accounts. The CBI is directed to file its counter and the matter posted to Thursday". The Times of India. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  20. ^ Times News Network, TNN (11 May 2012). "60 entities pumped Rs 1,172 cr into Sakshi: CBI". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  21. ^ a b Nag, Kingshuk (28 May 2012). "Jaganmohan Reddy: Understanding his tale of dynasty and megabucks". The Economic Times. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  22. ^ A, Srinivasa Rao (4 July 2012). "CBI files supplementary chargesheet against Jagan in disproportionate assets case". India Today. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  23. ^ "A timeline of the Jaganmohan Reddy case". India Today. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  24. ^ Knieper, Thomas; Saleh, Ibrahim (11 May 2017). The Visual Politics of Wars. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4438-9381-7.
  25. ^ "All you wanted to know about who owns the South Indian news channels you watch". The News Minute. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  26. ^ "India TV ropes in Vinay Maheshwari as Group CEO". afaqs!. 28 March 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  27. ^ a b Bukka, SumaBala (24 February 2022). "'సాక్షి' టీవీకి అనుమతులు రద్దు... సెక్యూరిటీ క్లియరెన్స్ కు నో." Asianet News Network (in Telugu). Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  28. ^ "Not bound to disclose why security clearance refused: Union Govt. of India to Supreme Court". OnManorama. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  29. ^ Hon'ble High Court, Telangana State. "WRIT PETITION NO: 3324 OF 2022 AND 333s OF 2022" (PDF). Hon'ble High Court of Telangana - Official Website. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  30. ^ a b Sukumar, C. R. (9 January 2010). "RIL to file criminal complaint against Telugu TV channel". Mint. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  31. ^ "TV5 Journalists Arrest Sparks Furore". fullhyderabad. 9 January 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  32. ^ a b "Reliance attack: Cases slapped against three TV channels". The Times of India. 9 January 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  33. ^ "Two editors of TV 5 arrested in Hyderabad". The Hindu. 8 January 2010. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  34. ^ Das, Ashok (8 January 2010). "AP channel booked over YSR report". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  35. ^ a b "Police arrests TV5 editors, Editors Guild condemns irresponsible reporting". Indiantelevision.com. 9 January 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  36. ^ "Journalists protest TV5 editors' arrest". Business Standard. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2022.