Country | India |
---|---|
Broadcast area | India |
Network | Sakshi Media Group |
Headquarters | Hyderabad, Telangana, India[1] |
Programming | |
Language(s) | Telugu |
Picture format | 4:3/16:9 |
Ownership | |
Parent | Indira Television Ltd.[2] |
Key people | Y. S. Bharathi Reddy (Chairperson) |
History | |
Launched | 1 March 2009 |
Founder | Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy |
Links | |
Website | Sakshi.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[update], the channel is functional following a temporary stay it obtained from the Telangana High Court.
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.
The channel has clearly been an instrument in promoting the political interests of Jaganmohan Reddy and the YSRCP.
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.
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.