Television news programmes are the primary source of information for the public. India is one of few countries that provide news broadcasts in both English and regional languages. Cities like Bangalore are so diverse that they have 24-hour news networks that broadcast in both English and Kannada. It seems to reason that local news, especially if it is generated in the language of the people, would carry more weight than news broadcasted from faraway cities like Delhi or Mumbai. Several studies have shown that viewers of local news stations are more likely to trust such stations than viewers of so-called national networks. There are nine factors that contribute to overall trustworthiness. The researchers are curious as to whether or not this theory is correct, and if so, why. A questionnaire-based audience perception research and in-depth interviews with the directors of programming at local news stations would be used for this purpose.
Key words: credibility, local news channels, 24x7 news channels, online news, newspapers.
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