The Great Indian Media Circus

We, the people have been addicted to the media since time immemorial. Mankind’s difference from the other species has lied in the fact that we want to know, to be aware of what happens around us. The happenings may be positive, negative or even grotesque – its not that we don’t refrain from making judgements, its just that we aspire to gain knowledge, always. We are curious, and, though a small sound will turn the heads of both an animal (the precise definition of which is highly debatable!) and a man alike, it would be the man who will go forward and ascertain the cause for its occurrence. We think, and are constantly on a lookout for upgradation of knowledge – a trait which was so indispensable in our "George of the Jungle" days!
The word "media" conveys exactly the same meaning as is cited in the Oxford dictionary, which, given today’s times, is quite amusing. It goes like:
"the means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, that reach or influence people widely"
Media acts as a bearer of information from the source to the people, its utility being understood when its audience is far away. As all of our five senses are satisfied in our quest for knowledge by this enterprise, it becomes one of the most powerful forces in our existence, because, as food nourishes our body, media nourishes our mind. And, ala Aunt May: "With great power comes great responsibility.", I just wish the media guys had watched Spiderman! In my opinion, Indian media can be summed up in two words – "Sensationalism unrestricted". True, it sells. In order to avoid getting wrongly interpreted, I would like to clarify that media never was, and should never be philanthropy – it IS a business, meant to create wealth and employment for scores of people and should remain a profit making venture. My only argument is that a business transaction between two people which results in gain for one and loss for the other can’t be termed as a business; it is, instead, a fraud. The irony here is that, much of the audience the media caters to doesn’t realize its loss, for the loss here is entirely of the human thought.
Consider this- Rakhi Sawant getting an airtime of 30 minutes LIVE on a show where the anchor is quizzing her about the kiss controversy, and where, at the end of the show, she is cheekily asked by the anchor to "perform" for the audience, to which Ms Sawant gladly obliges, gyrating to her numbers while giving a thumbs up for playing her favorite song to the "DJ" present!! 30 minutes live for THAT! True, its quite possible to think that the moment you take Ms. Sawant out of the picture, the case will hit you as actual sexual exploitation of a woman, and most of us wont be amused as we were when it came out, and, in that case, the media may be applauded in giving her a platform to speak out, regardless of her image. But couldn’t anyone see the useless arguments she was making in favour of her case - that "bhartiya nari" rhetoric reappearing every 5 minutes to prove her point- and the anchor asking questions on the costumes she wears in her videos while discussing an exploitation charge! These people were looking like giving a live example of the meaning of the word "Astray"! If that was the intention, they can better go and be part of a video GRE word tutorial rather than appearing on national television 24x7! Mika cashed on the scandal in a smarter way by making a satirical video about it, because, in the end, that’s what it deserved!
And this- Indian cricket team getting an astonishing 16 hours of coverage spread across various news channels after the South African ODI fiasco in which even a sneeze of a cricketer is scrutinized down to every nook and cranny. We were seeing analysis and counter analysis and frenzied criticism using a language that would be at a wafer thin distance from being profane – the difference lying only in the fact that swear words were not used. Also the same team is applauded after an almost guaranteed home series victory against a not so strong opposition! Why is the reaction on cricket always knee jerk & senseless by the media, when what we expect is an intelligent analysis coupled with a matured unbiased viewpoint – this being hallmark of quality sports reporting throughout the planet. I don’t think that the nation has been cricket crazy since generations, most of the hype and the overwhelming importance accredited to the sport is media generated, and would remain so until it decides to mend its ways. I would like to dissect the tagline of a popular Bollywood gossip show –"For news, views, opinions, scandals, scoops and gossip come to us" – leave out the scandal, scoop & gossip part for the entertainment section of the news channel guys, keep the former with sports reporting!
Also there was this "story" about a woman principal and an elderly manager of a school being beaten up by a bunch of rowdies in Muradabad. Termed as a heinous act and reflective of the changing social norms by the media, the video, ironically, has been shot with such poetic clarity that one wonders about the deftness with which it was shot. While lamenting police & government for inaction in the aftermath, what action was taken by the morally correct media? True, media’s job is to bring out objective facts for the populace to see/hear and form their views, but seeing the video, which carried as disturbing visuals as a woman being pulled by her hair, should and would spur any human being into action, and that includes the cameraman. In fact, even after the woman was knocked unconscious, she was still being zoomed into by the cameraman! The Gateway of India molestation case’s video is justified, as in such a swarm of people, the best thing that could be done was to just shoot. But here, where only a handful of people where assaulting a lady and an elderly man, surely something could have been done.
The result - A "sensational" news story; the impact – Watch any such act in future from a distance. Is this the "societal" change these channels pledge to bring with their reporting?
There are so many examples, including visual footage of a VC of a university being slapped by a student leader, of reckless reporting and the purpose they serve is to tell the society that the previously unthinkable incidents are now happening ushering the dawn of a new era which looks very gloomy indeed. And that there is NO light at the end of this tunnel, the best thing that we can do is to watch these channels & lament our surroundings!
True, the English channels are marginally better than their Hindi counterparts in the way that they are starting to realize their social responsibilities and are mixing it wisely with business, which, in my opinion, is the best formula in today’s times. The recent successes include the Jessica Lal & Priyadarshini Mattoo cases, and the exposure of the questions for money scam of Parliament. But, as the Supreme Court sagaciously warned, raking up of cases by the News Channels should not be the only driving force for the lower courts to act speedily; the process should be judicial as prescribed by the law, because such a trend would end up being even more unconstitutional than justice being denied. And no, I’m not being cynical here, asking the channels to be more socially active and then ending up supporting a verdict that contradicts the same. Instead I’m trying to emphasize just two points – Make a start, and don’t overdo it. And the current trend in Indian media can be summed up by this comment from a renowned columnist:
"The problem is not that we sell ourselves, that everyone does; the problem is that we sell ourselves to the lowest bidder!"