Media investigated Arushi146;s murder for 40 hours

The CMS study analysed 23 days of prime time coverage of the May 16 murders of teenaged Noida girl Aarushi Talwar and her family help Hemraj, the investigation of which invited national attention after allegation of botch-up by UP Police.

The channels 8212; DD News, Zee News, Aaj Tak, Star News, NDTV 24X7 and CNN-IBN 8212; telecast 234 news reports and 62 special programmes during the period, the study said.

The news reports consumed about 17 hours of the prime time while specials ran into over 22 hours.

While Zee News topped the list with a coverage of close to 11 hours with 48 reports and 21 special programmes, DD News coverage of the crime was at the bottom with 24 reports running into just 41 minutes over 23 days under review.

8220;Arushi murder case was overplayed. If you consider the time for advertisements, I wonder how much time was devoted to other stories,8221; Prabhakar, Head of CMS Media Lab, said.

8220;We feel the Gujjar agitation, having more national ramification, did not get adequate TV coverage so also the crucial developments in Nepal when it turned into a republic,8221; he said.