Right the Indian Media the so called fourth pillar of democracy seems to be shaking and the ship which has been the lone voice of the common man aka aam adami seems to be changing course.
Of late the media seems to be following the path the western media traced a few decades go which ultimately led to the end of the white mans era of domination. I'm talking about the sensationalism the idea that sanjay dutt can play drums as good as the guitar makes it to the front page!!
Why are we so intent on aping the west and reporting every act of infidelity that is carried out by our bollywood stars(here again we kick the principle of privacy in peoples lives to hell!) haven't we learned that such portrayals eventually lead a society to accept these as things as part and parcel of our lives. As of now i really can't recall five Hollywood starts without a string of affairs or divorces. And these portrayals lead the young college going students to believe that it is very cool to lead such a lifestyle. Anyone arguing otherwise doesn’t want to accept reality.
The Hindi media seems to have lost all sanity. A certain channel feels that it has the religiously responsibility to portray that every fight won by The great Khali is a victory against all odds while conveniently not mentioning the fact that WWE matches are all fixed and that the actions performed in the ring are done with the intention of not hurting the wrestler( a fact which is accepted by the WWE and various other wrestlers.)
And if we go by the reports of another news channel then those of us sleeping in north India should be waking up to have tea with the taliban as every night the danger seems to increase geometrically!!
The pundits of pro western media may say that the society defines the media but they forget that media is the most powerful means of propaganda and it's effects are known to everyone.
The media which is supposed to know what the common man wants or what appeals to him wasn't able to gauge what the voter inside the common man wanted!! Some papers and channels kicked aside the basic principle of media which is to report in an unbiased way. Hence we had a few channels prophesying the return of UPA while some predicted a decisive victory for the NDA and those who wanted to play it safe gave a small lead to either of the two factions.
Here I do not wish to mention the senseless way in which situations of victims of crimes are discussed because apparently the media which is fighting for the victim has no respect for the victim!! Last but not the least these days we have experts for everything on news channels from dog food experts to terror experts all of whom sit comfortably answering questions and giving out new opinion polls to answer.
This does not mean that the media should be censored by the government, the media must realize that it’s primary and only goal is to report news to the people and not entertain them!
Indian media has seen a dramatic change in the last decade; not less sensational than
ReplyDeletethe news stories they put up these days. But i classify Indian media in two groups-
one who tell news and others who cook news.
THe latter, seen predominantly in the hindi news channels have nothing on their minds
except sensationalism. They're stooping down with each passing day and the level of
the stories is better left not being discussed about. Its such a pain to watch it
where they intrude on privacy of celebs, every trifle issue is presented as a national
conundrum, stupid talk shows where only the anchors talk and the guests stay mum. They
seem to be a grp of amateurs. THe local cable news outperforms them in diligence. But
since they are getting the numbers, maybe a coterie of ppl do find them enticing.
But when i c responsible journalism, it does reiterate my belief in the fourth estate.
Movements like Greenathon by NDTV, citizen journalist by cnn-ibn, lEAD AND TEACH INDIA
BY THE TIMES GRP,socially pertinent documentaries ON NDTV and the icing on the cake... pragmatic debates and no-nonsense news. That's what epitomizes the power of media.
NDTV has covered all genres of expression with different channels... Business, national, lifestyle,world movies and entertainment. We tune to wt we like.
So, we need to decide the purpose with which we rely on media. We want the make believe cock and bull story or reality??
Karan, with his characteristic comfort to write for everyone to relate with, has
proved his mettle again with the grasp over content and potent expression. THo i do
differ on the use of the term indian media as a generalized perception, when its only
a section that has lost the purpose. ANyhow Good job man !!! U've presented the
essence with aplomb. People may agree with u, they may differ with u.. but u've given
them a reason to think. So mission accomplished.
If knowledge(info.) is power then clandestine knowledge is power squared !!Although it seems that the media is striving hard to reveal such recondite formulae from a celebrity's lab. ..I feel the truth is always well stucked and smirking under the wraps.The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
ReplyDeleteMost of us feel its our moral duty to "save" others.The media is trying to do just that and people are ready to relish whats being dished out to them.The definitions of what is right and what is wrong have zeroed down to what is acceptable and what is not.It's a fool's paradise and everyone wants to boogie in the party.No harm in that.
Karan,since I "think" I know u well...you believe that if we can sleep like babies at night,knowing we have been honest with our work and with people around us then our job is done well.Maybe experiencing a shift from this idea made you write this article.
Good piece of work!! I wish I could express like you do.Keep writing..looking ahead for more thoughts.Cheers!!
Good piece of work!!