The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Friday ordered the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to withhold television ratings for news channels for four weeks, amid concerns over sensational coverage of the US–Israel-Iran conflict.
For many families in India with relatives in the region, the consequences of such coverage are already being felt.
A 45-year-old mother in Srinagar hasn't slept properly since February 28. “I don’t even know if my daughter has anything to eat,” she told Decode.
Her daughter—a third-year MBBS student at a medical college in Karaj, Iran—went quiet a few days after the reported killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. International calls wouldn't connect. WhatsApp messages sat on a single grey tick.
So she did what millions of Indian families with relatives across West Asia have done since the US-Israel strikes began: she turned on the television. India TV. Aaj Tak. On for most of the day, volume up.
"I know these channels can be inaccurate and tend to exaggerate," she told Decode. "But where else can we get information right now?"
The Spectacle Machine
On February 28, the United States and Israel carried out coordinated strikes on multiple locations inside Iran, including Tehran, Isfahan and Karaj. The strikes killed Khamenei, marking the sharpest escalation in the long-running Iran-Israel standoff. Iran retaliated with missile and drone salvos targeting Israel and US military installations across Gulf states. It was a genuine, frightening crisis.
As tensions escalated across West Asia, Indian television channels turned the unfolding situation into a near-continuous spectacle. Broadcasts packed with flashing missile graphics, looping visuals of explosions, countdown tickers predicting the next strike and prime-time debates speculating about an imminent regional war.
"Iran caused destruction in Dubai"
Headlines flashing across screens read less like journalism and more like battlefield warnings: “In a few hours Iran’s skies will be under US control,” “Massive bombardment in Iran,” “Trump preparing for the final strike,” and “Missiles trigger chaos across an entire city”.
In a country where millions have relatives studying or working in West Asia, such broadcasts become the primary—sometimes the only—window into events unfolding thousands of kilometres away.
Then came the errors.
Aaj Tak anchor Anjana Om Kashyap, citing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, told viewers on air that Iran had held 66 American ambassadors hostage at the US embassy in Tehran. The same also appeared as the ticker text. A fellow reporter intervened to point out that the United States has had no embassy in Tehran since 1979—the reference was to the Iranian Revolution, nearly five decades ago. Kashyap acknowledged the mistake and apologised on air.
"Trump preparing for final attack on Iran"
Aaj Tak, India Today and NDTV also aired an older video from Manama, Bahrain, showing an Iranian drone hitting a skyscraper, claiming it was footage from Dubai. However, the clip clearly shows Zaya Tower in Manama.
"None of Them Are Separating Fact From Speculation"
On the ground in the UAE, the picture Indian television was painting bore little resemblance to the one people were actually living.
Ronak Kotecha, film critic with The Times of India and consulting editor at Times of Dubai, lives in Ajman and travels to Dubai daily. He told Decode the situation felt entirely different from what was being broadcast at home. "I drive 30–35 kilometres across the city almost every day. Everything is functioning normally. Offices are open, people are commuting and life is going on."
Kotecha recently posted a video on social media describing how the tone of Indian TV coverage has triggered anxiety among families back home.
He was careful not to minimise the threat. Precautionary measures had been taken—some events postponed, unnecessary construction halted, flights briefly suspended before resuming. "Missiles that do come in are intercepted and they are not continuous," he said. "What people sometimes see is debris falling after interception, which becomes collateral damage."
What troubled him was the framing. "None of the channels seem to be separating fact from speculation. Anchors are shouting, sirens are blaring in the background and it feels like they're presenting it as if the world is about to end."
Kotecha has since resorted to official government announcements for tracking updates.
Dubai-based content creator Mayank Dudeja made the same point in a video showing daily life continuing in the city. "Yes, there was an Iranian missile headed towards the Dubai Marina area," he said. "But it was intercepted in time. Why are they not stressing on that interception?" He addressed the channels directly: "Please stop stooping so low for TRPs."
Both men noted the same consequence: every Indian living in the Gulf was fielding a flood of calls from worried families back home. “People are watching the news and assuming the worst,” Dudeja said.
A Familiar Pattern
This is not the first time Indian television has turned a geopolitical crisis into prime-time spectacle.
During Operation Sindoor, India's military response following the April 2024 militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir, multiple channels framed the operation with war-like graphics and studio visuals resembling command centres. Anchors used phrases such as "India's final strike," "Pakistan will be taught a lesson tonight," and "countdown to retaliation," even before official briefings were released.
In some cases, these war-like broadcasts were accompanied by unverified claims that were aired as breaking news.
For instance, a viral WhatsApp forward falsely claimed that Indian Naval Ship (INS) Vikrant had reached Lahore, a landlocked city, before the claim shifted to the aircraft carrier attacking Karachi. Within minutes, several television channels began flashing the claim as “Breaking News,” with some airing unrelated visuals as supposed footage of a naval strike on Karachi.
Channels including Zee News, Aaj Tak, Lokmat Hindi, India Today and News Nation amplified the claim. BOOM later confirmed with journalists in Karachi that the claim was entirely false.
In another instance, outlets such as CNN-News18, OneIndia and Sudarshan News aired dramatic graphics of tanks, missiles and explosions while claiming Indian forces had moved to attack Islamabad. Some broadcasts also falsely claimed that drones had struck the residence of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, with Zee News even reporting that Sharif had “surrendered”. BOOM found no official confirmation from either Indian or Pakistani authorities for these claims.
What's different this time, fact checkers at BOOM pointed out, is the composition of the misinformation ecosystem.
According to the fact checkers, the ecosystem has been driven by a mix of old visuals and misleading clips being recirculated as fresh missile strikes, some of which were picked up by mainstream outlets as well. A significant new ingredient is AI-generated content—fabricated visuals and deepfakes circulating alongside genuine conflict footage, muddying the information environment further.
In one instance, a video showing a massive fire engulfing a high-rise building was widely shared as footage of an Iranian drone strike in the UAE. A fact-check by BOOM found the clip was actually from a 2015 residential building fire in Sharjah. The misleading claim was shared by Zee News too.
In another case, a video of passengers evacuating an aircraft was circulated online as Israelis fleeing an airport after an Iranian missile strike. BOOM traced the footage to an American Airlines evacuation at Denver International Airport, unrelated to the conflict. The clip was also shared by Republic Bharat.
The fact checkers noted that the scale of misreporting around the Iran conflict remains smaller than what surrounded the India-Pakistan crisis. But for viewers in Srinagar watching Aaj Tak for any clue about Karaj, the distinction offers little comfort.
What makes this particular media failure so pointed is who it most directly harms. India has one of the largest diasporas in the Gulf, and tens of thousands of students—many from Kashmir—studying medicine in Iran. For them and their families, television is not background noise. It is the only continuous signal from a place they cannot reach any other way.
In Srinagar, the mother still keeps the television on for most of the day, hoping for some clue about what might be happening in the city where her daughter studies.
