Friday 5 June 2015

Dear News Channels

Dear News channels,

Our office cafeteria has a huge LED television and they dutifully play English news in it. So, throughout my luncheon and later during snacks, my hungry eyes would be looking at it to know what is making the news. Most of my colleagues would be discussing the news as well. However, the ardent observer within me and the keen eyes has also noticed something else. You always broadcast the same news over and over. You don’t care if something is really relevant or not. You also don’t care if they make any sense. If you think that one piece of news could create ripples, you will tirelessly (read mindlessly) play it again and again. You start testing our patience level. It would reach to such heights that there would be only one option left – either to switch off the idiot box or just walk away from it.

Some days before, you covered a news where a traffic cop was throwing stone at some woman. The news informed that the woman was innocent and the cop was unnecessarily hitting that woman. There was no background to the news or no effort to state the facts. The same video continued to be played and the same news bulletins flashed. Thank God that we can’t hear the news due to crowd. Else, I would have to endure that too.

I can never forget that day when everyone (read as news channels) awaited for actor Salman Khan’s verdict for the hit and run case. Since morning, there were news only about that. Salman Khan has reached the court. Judge has reached. Tweets of celebrities. As a cherry on the cake, you welcomed our thoughts too. There were some rich spoiled celebrities saying that such accident happened not because Salman Khan was drunk but because the poor people slept on the road! My smart phone always popped up news updates (only Salman Khan News though) throughout the day. I sighed with relief when a bulletin in my smart phone flashed announcing that Salman Khan has got the bail and left to his home!

Soon came news of Amma aka Ms Jayalalitha getting bail… Honorable Prime Minister’s achievements over the past 365 days and so on.

This week, you are obsessed with the Maggi Muddle. You are more worried about the celebrities who endorsed it than the trouble per se. Courts are seeking explanations from them and have declared that Maggi is neither safe nor good for health.

Okay, now you would be wondering what I am blabbering? What point am I trying to drive? You might also wonder if I have become like you, aimless news channels, who care only about TRP, because about such topics would attract more viewers and comments.

Before, such questions fog your thoughts, let me clear the air.

I want to know where we are heading. What happened to the moral responsibility and ethical values of news channels? Do you care only about TRP? Are you politically skewed? If yes, then why do you lie that you are the voice of general public?

I want to know what is the big deal about the movie stars. I am not against them and you have no clue what a movie buff I am. I respect them and thank them for entertaining us. I also like to know what is happening in their lives, who is dating who and stuffs. I like to also see who wore what to Cannes and who won Filmfare. And, it ends there. They are not God. They are human beings. They can also err. They should be treated as normal human beings.

In the Maggi case, emphasis must be given to what made Maggi unsafe. How they discovered it. What are the other food items that are not safe anymore? You must try to bring awareness among the general public. Blaming the celebrities for endorsing that product or repeatedly showing the same ad is not going to solve the issue. It would only tempt me to take a 2 minutes break and have Maggi.

Similarly, I don’t care if Salman Khan has reached his home safely or not after hearing the verdict. I don’t want to know if he broke down or how the producers of his forthcoming movies reacted. Rather, I would like to know what steps can be taken to ensure that every Indian has a shelter to rest at the end of the day. I would like to know ONLY that.

I also don’t want to know if a cop hit a woman or if it was the other way round. But, I would love to know the rights duties and responsibilities of both the police officers and general public. I would like to be told that we must co-exist.

To conclude, my dear news channels, please broadcast quality news. Awaken the nation. Create awareness. Educate and empower. It would bring more TRP than you could ever imagine.

Yours faithfully,

Common Man

28 comments:

  1. Dear Common Man,

    Our life depends on sensationalism. Majority of our viewers are interested in sensationalism only. If we do intelligent in-depth analysis as you suggested, then we will lose our viewers. This will result in our losing advertisement revenue.

    In our industry, good news is not a news, Bad news is news. For example, if a plane takes off from New Delhi and lands safely in Mumbai, it is not a news. If that plane does not land in Mumbai, that is a news.

    Sincerely yours,

    News Channels

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    1. I knew that this would be the response from the news channels... And we all know that it is sad and not the right thing though... :(

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  2. Quality news do not sell.Media channels are there primarily to make money and would broadcast what attracts viewership according to their notion.Advertisements flow only on the basis of viewership.They do not promise you ethical,neutral,enriching and enlivening news.It is for common man to decide whether he would see TV news channels.If he chooses so, he has to suffer all the hardships you had pointed out.My take is to view them selectively and for short duration.None compels but yourself!!

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    1. When moral values take a backseat and money rules, it is not a great sight, isnt it GP?

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  3. It's been a few years since I followed any news channel. But they seem to have loyal untiring customers, your company cafeteria management crew included.

    Destination Infinity

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    1. Its not about loyalty Rajesh. What I think is that it is the constant hope that things would change soon!

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  4. Oh no! Look what you have done! You hampered the news channels' freedom of expression! They will come after you now and say "Dhyan se dekhiye iss blogger ko!" :D:D:D and reporters will hold candle light march against how they are not given freedom to show whatever they want to show and you will be the next headline! Congrats
    :D:D:D

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  5. I endorse what others have expressed and to add to that, a journalist's life is really hard, they work 24 by 7 and I give them credit because they are ruled by the channels.

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  6. You do not likewaht is aired. Shut the box and move on to something else.
    Why blame news channels and their bizarre ways of reporting sensationalising, repeating the same visuals over and over again/
    What about the soaps , the serials. Outrageous story lines and dialogues make you burrow into the ground and hide?.
    Some few minutes a day I cannot escape the serials , I'm stunned by the viciousness of the characters that are portrayed. And all are women with such sinister and malevolent traits. Women folks are glued to these serials. That includes my mother and wife as well, uncomfortably for me!
    What can you say about this?
    We get what we ask for. The channels are all helping the powers that be . Overdose of these things make us forget the mundane horrors that touch our lives. Like the ancient circus in Rome people are hypnotised and they forget the real troubles.

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    1. Serials are drama. They can be so. Unrealistic.
      But news channels are supposed to bring news that makes sense.
      I dont watch news either. But thats not the solution to the bigger problem !

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  7. Yesterday I wanted to know what happened in the Bala Vidya Mandir agitation. My neighbour's daughter is in 10th this year in that school and the mother had joined the agitating group since 8 in the morning. So I wanted to know what was happening and the mother had also told me to watch News X since they were inside the school and the gate was closed for the others. I waited for more than an hour. Only the news ribbon was saying that the agitation was still going on but the screen was busy showing Maggi news with Madhuri, Preeti and Amitabh's ads promoting it again and again. These celebrities are used to promote Maggi and this chaneel is using them to promote their channel. No concrete news was there. Repeating the same thing with another news clip where Karnataka Governor spent 4 crores for renovating his residence. He will walk upto the dias. tale the bouquet and come down....again walk up the stage take the bouquet and come down...they must have shown this for more than 10 times. I knew nothing about the school which was important. She called me later and gave the updates. They are just money making channels...all are, without any exception.

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    1. Such instances makes me more worries than angry...
      Where are we heading!?

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  8. I agree with ur points here. I think for most news channels, the priority is TRP (leading to profits) and creating a sort of sensation. Truth gets lost somewhere in these tangles just like their common sense.

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  9. I completely agree with your dilemma here, for I face it everyday too. Unnecessary news are being portrayed,, I had an entire week eat my breakfast knowing how salman escaped the verdict and then how he reacted in Kashmir, and who said what bout it.. There are news channels that air pathetic news like UFO being spotted, or Ghosts responding to bollywood songs, or uneccessary coverage to an actors attire, Not always do the do this shit, but when they do its like the telemarketing shows.

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    1. I really wish that they change... And hope that they change soon!

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  10. News channels are all about TRP these days. But we can't blame them completely. Cut throat competition in the market, and the arrival of innumerable news channel forces them to fight for TRPs.

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  11. Today there is no news channel as such..they are all entertainment channels and they encash even on tragedies.

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  12. I know what you mean. That's why I seldom watch TV. It's just frustrating. What are we feeding the people's minds, right?

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    1. Yes. But, not watching the channels is not the solution to the problem - Am i right?

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  13. thats why it s called news ha? :P

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    1. They are called news because they speak about NEW things...
      I wonder if they do that anymore!

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  14. Some very good questions that you have raised here....the thing is news today is all about how much sensation you can create....because that is what increases the TV viewership. Real news worthy stories are no longer explored because, lets face it, good news doesn't sell anymore. TV news channels have become more of an ear shattering riot/drama. Finally, its up to us to decide how to spend our time.....do we really need to tune in to watch all that nonsense and increase their TRPS is the question.

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    1. And the news channels dont care about that question is my answer :)
      If they had, they would not be broadcasting senseless news, right?!

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