Attack Coverage Tests India's Journalists

Amid one of the worst terrorist attacks in Indian history, the country's nascent cable and satellite news channels were put to their first big test. They drew many viewers, but mixed reviews. While India has suffered terrorist assaults in the past, the audacious multitarget attack on Mumbai was different. It evolved into a 60-hour saga of gunfire, explosions, hostage-taking and death that played out in the center of India's business and financial hub. At least 174 people were killed and more than 200 injured in the attacks, which ended Saturday. Most of the Indian television news channels have been around for less than five years. For some, the Mumbai siege, which began Wednesday night, was the first major event they had covered live, and they rushed to provide nonstop coverage to the riveted national audience. Viewers' feedback on coverage of the siege has been uneven. While millions of viewers remained glued to their screens for the latest information, some criticized the coverage in their blogs -- irritated with the hyperbole and melodramatic rhetoric of some TV reporters. The country's broadcasters were summoned Friday by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to deal with charges that the live saturation coverage had helped the terrorists. At the same time, however, traditional media were criticized as too slow and inaccurate by legions of "citizen journalists" using Internet services such as Twitter and photo site Flickr. The deputy commissioner of police argued that the terrorists, who were holed up in two major hotels and became involved in floor-by-floor firefights with police, were gaining tactical information from TV. Using powers under Section 19 of the country's Cable Television Networks Act, he ordered a blackout of TV news channels.