DD News Logo, Text Colour Change To Saffron; Sparks Controversy

The changed logo and colour of the Doordarshan news evoked criticism from various fronts. DD news, the national news channel under public television broadcaster Prasar Bharati has changed the logo and text colours to saffron on Tuesday.

The design of both English and Hindi news channels have been changed. Earlier the logo was on yellow and blue.

On social media platform X, Doordarshan wrote about their “new avatar”. “While our values remain the same, we are now available in a new avatar. Get ready for a news journey like never before.. Experience the all-new DD News!,” DD News tweeted.

While our values remain the same, we are now available in a new avatar. Get ready for a news journey like never before.. Experience the all-new DD News!

We have the courage to put:

Accuracy over speed
Facts over claims
Truth over sensationalism

Because if it is on DD News, it… pic.twitter.com/YH230pGBKs

— DD News (@DDNewslive) April 16, 2024

However, the revamped logo and colour sparked controversy. Since the Lok Sabha Elections are around the corner, the change of colour akin to BJP’s flag is not sitting well with the netizens.  Some of the social media reactions are listed below:

Did you know what Rangana runout said on Doordarshan and it’s new logo ! pic.twitter.com/He6ClnI6SE

— Ranting gola (@therantinggola) April 18, 2024

Being a government-owned news channel, Doordarshan was already facing allegation from Opposition regarding their biased news coverage favouring ruling party.

Earlier in April, Doordarshan‘s decision to broadcast the 2023 movie The Kerala Story has also erupted political row. Both CPI(M) and Congress opposed its screening, and the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan, observed that screening of the movie would only aggravate communal tensions ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. “The national news broadcaster should not become a propaganda machine of the BJP-RSS combine,” the Chief Minister said.

Aside from this, Doordarshan has also entered into controversy for over their plans to air an interview featuring Narendra Modi and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. However, they failed to secure rights for screening the interview citing the Moral Code of Conduct.