After a long time (months may be) I was watching TV at home... so many new channels, so many news channels.. new trends of TV world... it was not just about way of entertainment but also more about where the media is going.. or rather leading us!!!
I remember myself reciting poems in front of my mother in my childhood. Sometimes my mom used to say "have some expressions on your face, you are reciting poem, not reading news on TV!" I always used to wonder how do these news readers can be so expressionless! They used to read just any news with same calm face and tone. And this was not just about any regional channel but our national news channels also. They were very few and I had a great respect for all the news readers for their control on their emotions and personal opinions. All I used to get to listen to on these news channels was only information in its purest possible form (Even mosquitoes and flies roaming around were not 'edited'!)
Today I saw a totally different and quite shocking avatar of news channels. It was not that I was shocked for the first time. Even the headline of smallest size news has been seen tweaked to convey a totally different meaning than the actual information inside! Isn't it shocking and weird to pay someone (newspaper) to read their 'Opinions' and not just the information?
Anyway, The trigger for writing this blog is today's 'breaking News : Rahul, a youngster trying to hijack mumbai best bus on gunpoint killed by mumbai police in an encounter.' The sad part of this news is that I didn't get to see/listen/read this news on any news channel in this form of statement. I had actually option of numerous news channels!!! And thats where the catch is... Whats the point if all news channels provide the same information in same manner! Firstly why are there so many news channels? Because we need them? or because they need something? from us? I think so.. Thats why they compete... SABSE AAGE... SABSE TEZ... 'using' the news for themselves in this process... not for us!!!! I didn't see them conveying or 'reading' the information for us but rather giving excellent multimedia presentations of what they want us to believe about that information!!! And I understand the importance of expressionless faces of those great news readers in my childhood! They never tried to make us believe in what they read. And thats why we believed in it! Today if every news channel, every newspaper conveys their opinions about what has happened... whom do I believe! I just see opinions and presentations... where is the NEWS? The worst thing is those (mostly politicians) who understand this fact very well are just using it (media) for their short term benefits. In the evening I saw a NEWS VJ (best description) in digitally simulated bus environment to emphasize on what they "want" to tell us about the Rahul-bihar-mumbai police-Raj thakare news. So much efforts!!! So much Editing!!!!! And I understand the importance of those un-edited mosquitoes and flies in the recording studio of my childhood news channles!
For a moment al this hammering made me think as if this is the biggest and most important issue on earth! Not because a young man tried to do something on gunpoint, but more because he was from bihar, because he was in mumbai, because he wanted to talk to (or kill? not very clear from news) Raj Thakare... NO... no one was interested in knowing about other people in and around bus... their lives are of zero importance.. Only Rahul's life is omportant... because he fits the 'current context' very well!! For everyone... news channels as well as politicians... and those who enjoy multimedia presentations with evening coffee... Doesn't matter if 200 people get killed in some temple by stampede because of some missmanagement... people are more interested in proving how it was possible to avoid Rahul's encounter by vacating 4KM of Kurla market where it happened!!! No one is interested in discussing why a kid fallen in manhole could not be saved after 10 hours of struggle! Or at least how it can be prevented next time!!! Yes its certainly not important... It doesn't fit the 'Current Context' mannn.... Neither Raj Thakare nor Lalu Prasad Yadav (nor even NDTV Profit) can USE these news.. how can it be important mannnn!!!
5 comments:
i agree with u...no news channel gives u news. all they give u is their version of what happened. and its so dangerous...most ppl would fall for whatever nonsense they say, especially because its so much dramatized. i see a lot of bbc now a days and news is so clipped and crystal clear! its just news...just facts.
and sad that rahul has become the a caricature and a pawn used by all politicians; bihar, maharashtra doesn't matter...
sometimes its important to show news with context...but here the context itself is blown out completely. anyway i dont see anything changing for the good...more likely things will only change for the worst. mumbai suffers and so does common man...
India is standing at a crucial juncture. People's minds need to be diverted to progressive things. They need to be made to feel ashamed of how much we are lagging as a nation.
With one of the biggest population of hungry people,
one of the highest rate of infant-deaths,
people fighting for being included in the lower cast,
christian nun being gang-raped,
politicians like Raj Thackeray using the loop holes in the law for a personal political interests. ( We have heard of criminals and fraudsters doing that)
public being misled by reckless TV media in the TRP competition,
meagre spending on indigenous R&D leading to the one of the lowest Intellectual Property Index rating of the world,
lure of high revenue IT labour jobs turning 'great' (?) indian talent pool into back office machines helping great US and EU comapanies with no single Indian company which has broght a change in people's lives,
with almost no single company which has redefined the business or created mark globally,
education system systematically killing the natural creative spirit and so called educated man backing communal fights against North Indians, Christians and Muslims,
youth not willing to take risks and being happy doing salaried jobs ( IIT'ians you dont all represent the youth of India, though what IIT's have given India in these 60 years is a question),
lack of vision in the leadership in all fields,
and much much more..
Where is India headed?
Since it happens only in India..I wont be surprised tomorrow if Virar bound passengers start killing Borivali bound passengers claiming they are outsiders in 'their' train. (Mumbai residents will relate more with this example) or
if people of one sub-sub-cast fighting with other sub-sub-sub-cast people over reservations.
Wake up Indians! Jaago Jawaaano!
I fully agree with u sagar... People's minds need to be diverted to progressive things...
Sadly those who can do it are doing it in exactly opposite way...
But we as individuals should try to think and react based on our own analysis... not someone elses' "ready to chew" news reports!!
Dikhaawe pe mat jaao, Apni akal lagao!!
This has been the subject of discussion off late with the news papers running articles on the media adding 'masala' so to speak.
When I was watching the rahul episode yesterday, cnn ibn (the only news channel i watch, now I am wondering if i should continue watching it!) both the presenters kept asking the police commissioner to comment on what lalu said. the commissioner sounded very agitated over the fact that the news guys were making it seem like a political vendetta!! It was good to hear him say that (even if it was not the truth :P )
Yes, the news channels are going no where, if a karan johar film turning 10 can be the headlines then its just to garner trps. (oh, headlines today is by far the worst). If you can see that it's so shallow, then it's completely at your discretion: Switch off the TV. Subscribe to a better news paper. Or just get back to watching DD.
ps: I still find journalism a very powerful profession.
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