Reality of Live TV Shows from India Gate, Connaught Place

New Delhi, May 11: As the country is going through the Lok Sabha elections, every news channel is airing public opinion from Delhi on various issues.

The favourite places of news channels to prepare such reports from Delhi are India Gate and Connaught Place.

One can often see the parked OB (Outside Broadcasting) vans of different news channels in these areas.

Two types of news reports are aired from these areas: Live TV Shows and simple public opinion on a particular issue.

India Gate has become the preferable place for the news channels to conduct Live Shows because it offers free of cost ample lush ground.

The actual Live Shows are aired from India Gate wherein panelists of different parties express their opinion on the questions posed by news anchors or reporter.

On the other hand, Connaught Place is an area with heavy traffic. The only place where a grand Live Show can be conducted is Central Park, but it comes with a cost of Rs. 70000 per day. Therefore, generally simple public opinion news reports are recorded from Connaught Place.

The TV reporters generally choose the cemented area in front of the Gate Number 01 of Palika Bazaar, the underground market of Connaught Place that is famous for budget shopping.

However, the important ingredient of both types of news reports is a crowd, and India Gate as well as Connaught Place are ideal for fulfilling this requirement.

While India Gate attracts thousands of tourists daily, Connaught Place sees heavy footfall of shoppers, which also includes tourists who come from different parts of India.

Another important aspect is that every news channel reporter comes to these areas after getting the feedback about the agenda from his/her seniors, which has to be taken up in the news reports.

An agenda can't be fulfilled if a reporter gives mic to anyone in the crowd. Therefore, the reporters have devised a way out.

A diehard fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi shares the modus operandi of TV reporters with One India.

Anshu Ahuja, a marketing executive, has been spending evenings in Connaught Place and India Gate since the Lok Sabha elections are announced in a hope to get a chance to express his views on national news channels.

Till date, he hasn't got a chance. However, a newly launched YouTube news channel has recorded his views. He has downloaded the link and has been sharing the same with his friends and family members.

While talking to One India, he shares his findings about the TV reportage from India Gate and Connaught Place.

"There are many youngsters, adults and aged persons in India Gate and Connaught Place who are known to the various TV reporters. They are the ones who generally give opinions on different news channels. They get beforehand information of a news programme and its agenda. As soon as the TV cameras are set, they mingle with the crowd and occupy front rows. I have observed that generally, reporters give chance to speak to those persons only, " rues the marketing executive.

He claims he has witnessed same persons airing different views on different news channels.

"For example, one day I saw an old man at Connaught Place was favouring Congress President Rahul Gandhi and abusing Prime Minister Modi on the mic of a famous news channel. I was surprised because a day before he was supporting Prime Minister Modi on a different national news channel," he adds.

According to him, the plan devised by various TV reporters can't be noticed by normal TV viewers as majority of a crowd is always different.

The marketing executive also shares other interesting information about various insignificant YouTube news channels.

"Various YouTube news channels come into picture after the shooting of TV news channels is over. For reporting, one needs crowd. As the general public starts leaving the spot after completion of the TV programme, You Tube reporters start posing questions to the remaining ones. This is how I got a chance to get recorded by a YouTube news channel," he says smilingly.

However, the marketing executive is also surprised that different YouTube news channels too have different agendas.

He says that he has been recorded by at least five YouTube news channels but only one channel uploaded his views.