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News? It’s such a jape these days.
There was a time when media was very influential and enhanced critical thinking and analysis for general public. It was the time when reporters did serious journalism and brought up "issues of significance".
It was the time when the badges of journalist were worn with pride.
But now, with the news channels broadcasting 24/7, they have started broadcasting" anything" their news cycle. Not only has the idea of what constitutes news changed but also the way people look at it changed.
I recently watched Halla Bol, a Hindi movie digging into the connection between news and sensationalism. What they impersonated was very similar to what we’re barraged with in the name of news, day and night.
This morning, I was skipping channels when I again noticed this news on a news channel:
It was regarding the cricketer's Dhoni wedding. It was on for almost 10 days now and I still cant figure out the hoopla! Why am I supposed to know the bride? And details of their vacation together? Why cant reporters get a life!
It was regarding the cricketer's Dhoni wedding. It was on for almost 10 days now and I still cant figure out the hoopla! Why am I supposed to know the bride? And details of their vacation together? Why cant reporters get a life!
Is this what we’re reducing “news” to?
Striking visuals and beside the point stories — to entertain but not educate.
Striking visuals and beside the point stories — to entertain but not educate.
Whenever I ask this from an elder, I am told that it is viewer's choice!
Is it?
Is this kind of blunder acceptable instead of the problems that really need to be looked into? Have we given it up to the media for telling us what the news should be?
If not, why don’t we articulate our repulse?
If not, why don’t we articulate our repulse?
Or, are we viewing TV just for entertainment sake making an assumption that real news can be read in the newspapers too?
Media is supposed to be a reflection of the society but is this what we have become?
Now, don’t go for tweeting this.
It might just show up on a news channel!
It might just show up on a news channel!
12 comments:
Well said.. Dhoni's marriage wil be telecasted for 20 or more days but a proud INDIAN became of the owner of East India Company (The one which ruled for more than 100 years), but it din't get featured on TV. Why is this shit?
Think guys...
Yours Frendly,
Saravana Kumar M
Few Miles
yeah its true..News channels are pathetic these days and I pity on the content they are flashing 24x7. BBC news is the only channel that I thought shows the actual news rest all are simply crappy.
This is a problem that exists in not only our country, but in every nation where there are enough celebrities for the news channels to focus on and perpetually rant on about trivial occurrences in their personal lives. In India, this is somewhat new and exciting, per say. The paparazzi culture is breeding, so to speak.
Real news is broadcast once in a while but obviously, 'once in a while' isn't enough.
Very well said! The media, newspaper, etc has become a mockery in our democratic society... Dont know how and when they will realise their responsibilities!
I think Dhoni would be taking a breath of relief, otherwise media wont hesitate in covering them at home and maybe not even spare them their private moments.
On a serious note,
have journalists lost their minds, or is it really that the have stopped caring anything else?
Regards
Blasphemous Aesthete
its so true that news channels r more or less entertainment channels now a days..the main motive is not news..jst like the engg coll's..the motive is not to educate but business..in a line from the movie state of play ur post can be summarized..russel crowe says "amidst all the crappy stuff thats shown and written the public actually knows to differentiate between real news and bull shit and they r thankful that there are atleast some people who care to get above all of them and bring the truth out and print it."
It's an interesting paradox.
A run down, underfunded, underrated government run channel called Doordarshan has more quality news than the most private channels.
You're right.It's not about news anymore, or quality journalism.
Personally I don't think a journo like Barkha Dutt deserves the credit she gets. Had there been no Kargil She'd still have been a field reporter or whatever. I mean seriously, if a journo that high up asks a 12 year old girl whether she was scared when she was getting shot at, while in the railway station on 26/11, then really, there is very little to be done.
I disagree with D2.
If you look at the United States, where you have multiple news channels, multiple regional news channels, or even in the UK, they're not putting up rubbish on screen. They have dedicated shows, or channels to rant about celebrities or who's sporting what wig, and etcetera.
I absolutely agree with Vivek nanda up there, with BBC being the only channel worth watching.
When mediums like movies, television and print media focus more on their ratings and their money, that's when things go very wrong.
I think journalists aren't trained well enough in the gazzilions of institutes that have come up in the last decade. AND AND AND, that there is a serious dearth of quality journalists, hence every person with a degree or diploma course is getting in, and a bunch of hob nob high nose reporters who don't want to make way for something new.
I think you have a shot at winning. Best of luck!
And you've got yourself a new follower.
http://sourcanvas.blogspot.com/
@UjSen :
Perhaps i should have made myself a little clearer. This phenomenon that we are witnessing today has already taken place ages ago in the USA. If you check out the histories of news channels in the USA, you'd see that there was a time when they were facing the same problem that we are now. It is only recently that they started adhering to the methods they had devised to curb that very problem. We have the ways too. There are channels like Zoom and such others in India that, I believe, are focused on celebrity news. But the Indian media isn't being responsible enough to to show us what we really need to see.
But yes, I do agree that the BBC always has been the perfect example of a news channel. Perhaps a little British sophistication has rendered it that. That's what i think anyway.
@Surbhi : All the best. You have a major chance at winning. :)
@Sarvana Very true.. Rarely do I see useful news on TV. Its only restricted to the print media!
@Vivek I think 24*7 is the main issue with them. In the older times, News used to telecast only for a couple of hours so only important things were covered but now news channels are building up there own businesses!
@Karan I guess its a rare thing for them to realize their responsibility. Also, real news can't reach general public majorly because of bureaucracy. A lot more cleaning required in India...
@Aesthete I have a different opinion on that. I think celebrities bribe news channels to cover them. Celebrities always want to be in the news and marriages are one of the easiest medium for that. Also, people have stopped caring!
@Prateek Hehe.. I liked that engineering thingy. Shows that you are really pissed off with their ways!
@UjSen Yes.. Doordashan atleast telecasts the "news" even if not real. The bureaucracy, however, doesn't let them show the "real news."
Also, BBC is the only one I find worth watching! Its all about "news business" these days. They sell their news to prominent people for loads of money and feed in their bellies. Its such a disgrace going on in India. Thanks for being the follower. Hope to see you around :)
@Abhishek I agree with you that India is in the position where USA was, a couple of years ago. It will probably catch up soon. I hope it does! Thanks :)
I dislike it too when they trot out gossipy, page 3 stuff along with the real news as 'breaking news'. Most channels do have a separate segment for entertainment and celeb news and they should stick to that.
Many a times media goes overboard just to raise their TRP!
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