We haven’t seen a war like this one. Within three days, it had embroiled 10 nations in the Middle East, besides the three primary combatants: the United States, Israel, and Iran. It’s already being called a ‘global war’ by TV9 Bharatvarsh.
You’d expect nothing less from a mission dubbed ‘Operation Lion’s Roar’.
As that roar echoes across the world, it has succeeded in banishing virtually all other news from television channels across continents. From the US to India, news television is ‘breaking war’ (India TV) almost 24/7. ‘Live and non-stop’ was the banner headline on many Indian news channels.
The exhilaration of reporting the live breakout of hostilities during the first three days—and the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—has subsided a little. From ‘Are we heading toward World War 3?’ on day 1 to ‘War drums, missile storm’ on day 5 is something of a climb down for the 1,000-volt Indian news channels such as Times Now.
International channels were more sober and straightforward in announcing the war: ‘Israel and US launch attack on Iran,’ read the CNN International headline on 28 February. ‘US strikes on Iran,’ said BBC World. ‘Iran Under Attack,’ declared Al Jazeera.
War hysteria
In their coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran, Indian TV news channels and global networks have differed in significant ways. This is dictated by their respective target audiences: Indian channels focus on domestic, regional viewers, while global ones address English-speaking viewers in many different countries.
Everything, even war on Hindi news, is a melodrama—loud, sensational, larger than life spectacle: ‘Ailaan-e-jung’ (Aaj Tak), ‘West Asia war rages’ (CNN News 18), ‘US pounds Iran’ (NDTV 24×7), and ‘Ballistic Iran’ (Times Now), was the general mood.
There is sound and fury, often accompanied by music and computer-generated images of bombers and explosions—a particular favourite on channels such as NewsNation, Zee News and TV9 Bharatvarsh.
If you switch from Al Jazeera to ABP News, you’ll have to lower the volume. ABP News anchors are excitable—each plume of smoke arising from missile attacks over Tehran adds to the war hysteria. ‘Wave upon wave of US-Israel attacks but Iran will never bow down,’ said an ABP News anchor after a “massive escalation” of the war (India Today).
Hindi news channel Aaj Tak went so far as to consult the celestial firmament for answers: In ‘Eclipse over the globe’, it asked astrologers if the Blood Moon had an impact on the war in the Middle East.
International TV networks’ approach is more businesslike—fewer drum beats. Where they differ most from Indian TV coverage is that they have correspondents in many countries, providing real-time updates, ground reports, and interviews with the public.
In India, most of the TV news coverage depends on available footage from news agencies or social media—and satellite images. From Tehran and Isfahan to Tel Aviv, Beirut, and Dubai, this consists largely of footage showing us buildings going up in smoke or the rubble after another ‘wave of attacks’.
If the channels didn’t label the visuals with the names of cities, we wouldn’t recognise the location—it all looks similar. TV9 Bharatvarsh likes to cram the screen with visuals from up to eight different locations at the same time for greater impact.
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What Indian channels are missing
The danger is the authenticity of what you see: an expert on Republic TV suggested that visuals of thousands mourning Khameini’s death had been ‘carefully choreographed’.
And then there are the AI-generated or manipulated images to contend with. Warning: don’t believe everything you see. That’s why BBC World uses BBC Verify to catch fake or manipulated videos of the war.
Reporters from Indian news channels are stationed in Israel and the Gulf states for supplementary reporting. News channels such as NDTV 24×7, CNN News 18, India Today boast of being ‘the only Indian channel’, ‘the only India network’ in Tel Aviv or Dubai, knowing full well that it is not so. They provide real-time on-the-spot reports and interview the public—especially the Indian diaspora in the Gulf.
NDTV 24×7 interviewed Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid and got a sound byte out of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
There is an Indian angle, too: ABP News and News 18 India covered protests and processions after Khameini’s killing in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi.
Mostly, there were TV studio discussions with guest experts—former military men, ex-ambassadors, and academics, Indian or foreign, on the objectives of the ‘war by choice’ of US President Donald Trump, its impact and the India angle.
What’s unusual about the coverage is the low-key official Indian response, barring reports of statements from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs. When there are so many Indians living in the region—9 million in the Persian Gulf—you’d expect more in-depth analysis of the impact on them.
Also, there are many Iranians in India. Haven’t seen any interviews with them. Why not?
Global news channels
International TV networks give us a global outlook with a focus on the thinking in Washington—or rather what Trump thinks—an impossibility, but that doesn’t stop their educated guesses.
And there is far more coverage from Israel on CNN International and BBC World—access to Iran is more limited. For example, all these channels are at the Lebanon-Israel border right now to cover Israel’s ground attacks on Hezbollah.
CNN International emphasises the US administration’s objectives and analysis of Trump’s ‘epic gamble’. But with its regional headquarters in Doha, it gives us a regional picture too, especially from Tel Aviv.
At BBC World, ground reports on the war, the impact on civilians, and the human cost have a slight edge. The channel also focuses more on the economic fallout—the potential oil crisis, for example. On Wednesday, BBC World was at the Turkey-Iran border, where Iranians were trying to cross over. “We are living in fear and waking up in stress,” said one Iranian.
Al Jazeera has a regional focus, with the latest news and analysis from most Arab countries. It featured reports from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and more extensively from Iran. It features Saudi Arabian, Kuwaiti, and Iranian experts on the same discussion, so you get a better understanding of each country’s viewpoint.
Also read: The story of India’s forgotten Afghans — horse-traders, mercenaries, kings
‘How long will it last?’
Domestic or foreign, TV news channels share a common bewilderment about the future of the war. All of them have concluded that “clearly, the war is not over yet’’ (CNN News International).
Over the last five days, you would have heard any number of anchors, reporters, and strategic experts say something along the lines of: “No one knows how long it (the war) will last or where it is going” (BBC World).
“How long will this last? No one knows,” said the Times Now anchor.
Not even, perhaps, President Donald Trump.
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)