Sunday, June 3, 2007

Modern Day Cynicism

A six-day break from blogging for no reason other than the lack of stuff to write - that's been the story of the past week for me at home. But on the flip side, while I haven't had much to express, I've had a lot to observe, a lot to mull upon and finally, something to write about.

To start with let's look at some of the major news stories from the past week:

  • Agitations in Rajasthan over the OBC reservation issues - pity that certain groups of people consider fighting for a right to circumvent the path everyone has to take as a righteous struggle; pity that even after 60 years of independence, the specter of reservations haunts us.
  • The FBI foiled a planned attack on the JFK airport in NY.
  • The progress of the monsoons hits a roadblock with the formation of a cyclone 800 km southwest of Mumbai.
  • There were fears of an outbreak of smallpox in Bangladesh and Myanmar, which eventually turned out to a false alarm with the WHO confirming it as an outbreak of measles.
  • NDTV expose purportedly showing the collusion between the prosecution and the defence in the sensational BMW hit-and-run case aired on TV.

Now, the print media did dwell on each of these issues in some length or the other although one could argue that they had to do so for fear of lacking the necessary content to fill up the few blanks within their pages. After all, you can't fill a whole newspaper with advertisements - not that TOI and some others would mind.

Let's look at the television media on the other hand. Each of these events appeared, yes, but with sensational claims, twists and turns along the way. And that brings me to the point of asking whether the media in the country looks for news in search of the truth or is sensationalism the major criterion for breaking news. Whatever it is, the phenomenon of television ratings and market share seems to have caught up with the media, causing an overkill of sensational, eye-grabbing headlines - some true, some blown-up beyond proportion.

I do wonder sometimes whether today's media - the self-style voice and saviour of the people - care about the people themselves whose cause they are fighting for. The general cynicism and lack of preparation that goes into the coverage of news stories is all so apparent to me. News channels have become an extension of tabloid tattle, whereby issues like celebrity hookups are given supreme priority. And when the issues that really matter do come to the fore, one can be rest assured it's due to the sensation potential of that issue. Add to that the bias regarding many many issues that are covered - and you realize that Indian media, amidst all the cynicism, is ill.

It is this cynicism that we have to rid our mindsets of. For I believe a reason for the widespread cynicism in the media is that the people themselves demand it. When you are in the business of selling news to people, you better give them what they want; and it seems this is what is happening in India at the moment.

However, that does not mean there are no good journalists out there. There are people who are doing a really good job out there. Without taking names, I'll be the first one to admit that there are people in the media who earnestly believe in their duty as the voice of the people and try to bring out real issues from beneath the cloak of sensationalism. And I for one hope that the number of this increasingly rare breed of journalists sees a considerable increase.

6 Responses:

Saurya Chakraborty said...

I agree wholeheartedly...a case in point about news channels 'catering' to the masses was Aaj Tak...for nearly a week all i saw when i tuned into the channel was 'news' about Ram Gopal Verma ki Sholay!!!!

Rishabh Kaul said...

and how can we forget india tv, with its sting operations????

Its always been there.

There might a time, not so far away from the present, when every news channel will be "creating" its own news hence become the "first" one to report it

Soumyadeep Ghosh said...

@saurya: I watched 1 min of that programme and it was atrocious dude.

@rishabh: news fabrication is already happening in the UK...like all other angrezi stuff, it's gonna come to India.

Rishabh Kaul said...

there is a bond movie which hints at it, tomorrow never dies

Harshad said...

Good to see you writing consistently on the current issues these days! The contribution of Star news can never be neglected! Do you remember The "Prince" issue?

Anonymous said...

A current topic very well discussed..the article does reflect your wise thinking.

One of my observations is that the at times local or small scale newspapers take up some really serious issues dedicated to social cause.These issues may sound mostly meagre, but they carry their own importance at the grassroot level..and the same journalists, when they grow up, turn to cheap and sleaze news..i wonder why?