A MEMOIR SPANNING THIRTY YEARS OF A CAREER IN TELEVISION NEWS, GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS UNRAVELS THE LIFE AND FORM OF TV JOURNALISM IN INDIA THROUGH THE YEARS.

1989: ONE OF INDIAS FIRST-EVER TELEVISED ELECTION RESULTS COVERAGE WAS TO GO LIVE, AND MAYA SHARMA STOOD AT THE READY, AN EARNEST EXPRESSION ON HER FACE AND A FIRM GRIP ON HER MIKE.

Maya reported live for the first time then-and would do so thousands of times in the years ahead.

As a senior reporter for NDTVs Bangalore bureau, she would go on to cover more elections, dramatic political developments, devastating natural disasters, as well as art and entertainment, human-interest stories and sports. Away from the centre of political and journalistic power in Delhi, a reporter could not afford to stick to one beat-but, equally, this was a chance to develop a wide range of interests, contacts and, indeed, specialisations. While an insider to news television, a bureau reporter is nonetheless an outsider who has the distance to assess the faultlines of her profession: the north-south divide, the woman reporters particular challenges, and the constant tug of war between the quest for truth and TRPs.

It is unusual for one person to have so long stayed the distance that that the span of their career is almost the entire life of private TV news in India. As much as it is an appraisal of the history of her profession in the country, this book is also a clear-eyed evaluation of how journalism works today. Good News, Bad News is, in short, the story of the rise and fall of television news in India.

About the Author: Maya Sharma

Maya Sharma is a journalist, writer and teacher. She was part of the very first batch of trained television journalists in India and worked for over thirty years in TV news as a bureau reporter, anchor and documentary film maker. Much of this time was with the pioneering media company, NDTV, where she covered a variety of subjects including politics, civic issues, the environment, arts and entertainment, sports, crime, business and human-interest stories.

Maya was a Fulbright Scholar and has won many awards for her work including the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award.

She lives just outside Bengaluru with her husband and their posse of adorable dogs.