Saturday 5 September 2020

News vis-à-vis Views; Indian Media.

 


So the Indian media might lag behind in keeping us informed but it’s always there to keep us entertained.

“गौर से देखिये इस इंसान को!” (Look at this person carefully!) And honestly, I am intrigued to look at the man then. I mean that’s good, right? Well good or not, it’s definitely entertaining. Also, the way anchors and reporters read out the news is so dramatic. It’s full of emotions, feelings. It’s like looking at a drama and well, getting a little informed along with it.  They narrate the incidence in a way that the viewer has no choice but to listen to them. “यार ऐसे बोल रहा है तो कुछ हुआ ही होगा” (If he is speaking this way then something must’ve happened, man). And I have no problem with this, its good because people really do watch news because of this.

And well the English Indian channels are the same too (except some of course). The dramatic and aggressive narrative, the long ads (well I really don’t like the fact that ads are shown in between news. We are here for information not products. I mean a Zandu balm ad between a discussion on the Galwan valley is just pathetic) and weird titles (Example-हाफिज का ख़ास, कश्मीर में बना लाश) are common to both Hindi and English channels.

Also, these channels show very news-irrelevant shows too. Like they show Entertainment news in the afternoon. Entertainment…news. Well aren’t these literally juxtaposed? But my real problem is with the name of them (I mean सास, बहू और साजिश Come on!) and they also show the horoscope programmes in the morning which isn’t news but well some people do seriously watch and follow it so let’s let them do it peacefully.

Another thing that I don’t like is the pointless debates. Everyone on the panel is screaming and shouting utter gibberish and there is no conclusion to these debates. People very often use very bad language and the mediator or the anchor appears to be biased towards some people or views. There were so many debates during the CAA-NRC times but they were all pointless. There was no para-to-para debate on it which is kind of disappointing.

It is disheartening to see that our media is TRP-oriented. They don’t show actual news or news which is important. Today, they have sidelined issues like Corona and poverty and unemployment and are focusing on Sushant Singh Rajput case instead. Now that is very important too but other pressing and significant matters cannot be neglected for it. And even if they do show TRP-oriented news, they should atleast do a proper follow-up. They take up a sensational news and then just leave it. The channels focus more on views than on news.

The news channels are hiring a lot of female anchors and reporters nowadays which is amazing. It shows that women are now just as good and well-informed as men to spread news. The leading reporters and anchors of majority of the news channels are women which is symbolic of the growth of the female gender in the country. These women are so confident and they are such good orators that we feel overwhelmed. (Now another reason for this might be to intrigue the male population but I would rather take this positively.)

“You do your act, turning it into a scam is our guarantee.” This must be changed. Our media should change its system almost completely. There is no denying the fact that these channels provide us with loads of information from all over the country which is a big deal as we are a population of 135 crores, spread over an area of 3.24 million sq.km. But the media system indeed requires a reformation as they are the ones who keep us aware and informed and the correct and proper information is very very essential.

4 comments:

  1. The only news we should watch is DD news. Period.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Discretion is must while watching/ not watching but listening the news. Its the world of paid media, thankfully both or all sides can pay today. Unlike earlier times when only the rich or people in power could. Must listen to all but make your own opinion post contemplation.
    Well written once again. Good attempt.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Completely agree. Media is like a circus. But remember they sell, what sells. I remember attending a very important discussion with some leading news anchors at a Literature festival. The very same point was raised by the audience and the news anchors present there debated that experiments of serving plain news to the audience have failed terribly with very low TRPs. To run channels, therefore, they must serve what is asked for. I see it as a vicious circle. There is a lot of money involved and everything is practically about business. I fear it will only go from bad to worse. So, well brought out and good effort.
    Sonia from https://soniadogra.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Waiting for your next article.

    ReplyDelete

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