IN the old days, if a train derailed, 16 people died and 30 plus were injured it would be a first lead the next morning. On TV it would certainly be not just the lead, but a running story for a while. But last week, the accident that the Bundlekhand Express was involved in was big news only in a couple of newspapers and an also-ran for the Hindi news channels on the main news bulletins at night. The first lead was a toss up between the Supreme Court allowing loudspeakers to be used till midnight during Navaratri in Gujarat (with extended footage of garba dancing) and the observance of Amavasya coinciding with a solar eclipse in various places including Kurukshetra. Not the accident, nor the fact that the KGB story now had a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) angle to it. The English channels saw these two stories as lead material, not the Hindi ones. The garba story was not so big on either NDTV 24x7 or Headlines Today, but on Star News and Aaj Tak and Zee they went on and on about it. Tez was the exception: its product definition does not allow it to go on and on about anything.

Other stories that were big were the imminent surgery on conjoined twins, and the "Bridal Asia" exhibition starting in Delhi. News judgment these days involves abandoning the old yardsticks and second-guessing what people are interested in. Particularly when there is competition to worry about.

The previous day was Mahatma Gandhi's 136th birth anniversary and there were more examples of unpredictable news judgment. Doordarshan's was governed by its sense of duty. You may not have got the slightest whiff of the Jan Kerosine Pariyojana from the other channels or the newspapers the next morning (apparently Mani Shankar Aiyar's Gandhi Jayanti gift to the nation) but it got interminable coverage on DD. On Monday night it was still making news on DD News.

For fierce competitors Star News and Aaj Tak, the Gandhi Jayanti story to beat all rivals with, and the Samajwadi party too for good measure, was something that happened in Kanpur. Schoolchildren fainted at a Gandhi Jayanti function while waiting for Amar Singh and Jayaprada to arrive. How long did they wait? Three hours, said one channel. Four, said another. More than five, said the Asian Age next morning. How many fainted? Forty, said one channel. Forty-eight said another. Ninety, said the Age. (No other paper had the story.) "Tarapte bacche, manch pe neta (Restless children, leaders on the podium.") "Netaji ka intezaar (Waiting for netaji.") An instant poll from Star News: should children be compelled to participate in government functions? Tweaking that further the anchor asked, should they be treated like bonded labour? As for Aaj Tak, Deepak Chaurasia was on air, hyping it up for all he was worth. DD news? No mention of the incident, not even in the news crawl. Sahara Samay, owned by Amar Singh's good pal Subroto Roy? They hadn't heard of it either.

News is what you can find an angle to if your politics permits it. And if you have the mind to flog a story, a little bit of footage goes a long way. The location of a story also counts. At Aaj Tak they tell you that Star News picks up crime or accident stories from towns when the TAM audience rating meters are located and then flogs them to build up the ratings. Star News is unapologetic about flogging what sells, be it crime, sex or scandal. It has helped them touch No. 1 on some weeks. If you run into majority stake owner Aveek Sarkar, he tells you that he is a great believer in tabloid journalism.

Recently in Rajasthan, journalists confirmed the non-politicisation of news at the local level. Said a news coordinator, "We have stopped carrying political speeches. It's local crime and accidents that is big. If there is a speech by a minister, 10 people will read. If a minister trips and falls, 100 will read." Added his editor sagely, "The rich and famous now make news. Politicians only make news at election time or if the government falls."

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