Media Madness - India
Sensationalism is the name of the game. Triviality gets magnified and in the name of investigative journalism, the press runs amuck. V.Gangadhar (Who used to write earlier in THE HINDU) writes a wonderful opinion piece in HT titled " No Method to Media Madness" .
Some excerpt , " As India's number one showman Amitabh Bachchan lay ill at hospital, the Indian media, both print and TV, provided us with examples of 'new journalism' made up of exaggeration, sensationalism and plain silliness. About half-a-dozen OB vans belonging to various TV channels were parked near the hospital; reporters, mostly young and brash, were determined to tell the world what they thought of Bachchan's illness. In the process they proved a nuisance to other patients and genuine visitors to the hospital.
One man's illness was turned into a soap opera with tears, rage, and a bit of attempted deceit for that elusive scoop. One of the reporters from Aaj Tak tried to enter the hospital posing as a doctor though this was denied by the channel's editor who pointed out that his reporter did not wear a gown and was without any hidden camera or electronic equipment.Breaking news included such gems like 'Abhi Amitabh ko stretcher mein laya gaya', 'Amitabh aaj juice piya tha' (I don't know why they missed out whether he drank orange, apple or pineapple juice!).The coverage had the message that nothing else was happening in the country. But this was not so. Young viewers polled by Mid-Day agreed that the Volcker committee report was more important than the Amitabah soap opera. The media ignored the fact that one of the most famous music directors of Bollywood, OP Nayyar, was also admitted to the Lilavati hospital just before the Amitabh illness.A media watcher for over 30 years, I am distressed at the lack of news sense and the focus on trivia. Nothing is serious, we are told. Watching We the People show, I am often shocked that even while discussing serious issues like rape, child molestation and caste wars, the discussion often degenerates into a club-like atmosphere with laughter and giggles. What kind of conclusions can one draw from this mood of jollity?
I worked in an era when everyone had to be referred to as 'Mr' particularly in big newspapers. There are rotten eggs in politics but that did not mean you can refer to them by their first names."
Sensationalism is the name of the game. Triviality gets magnified and in the name of investigative journalism, the press runs amuck. V.Gangadhar (Who used to write earlier in THE HINDU) writes a wonderful opinion piece in HT titled " No Method to Media Madness" .
Some excerpt , " As India's number one showman Amitabh Bachchan lay ill at hospital, the Indian media, both print and TV, provided us with examples of 'new journalism' made up of exaggeration, sensationalism and plain silliness. About half-a-dozen OB vans belonging to various TV channels were parked near the hospital; reporters, mostly young and brash, were determined to tell the world what they thought of Bachchan's illness. In the process they proved a nuisance to other patients and genuine visitors to the hospital.
One man's illness was turned into a soap opera with tears, rage, and a bit of attempted deceit for that elusive scoop. One of the reporters from Aaj Tak tried to enter the hospital posing as a doctor though this was denied by the channel's editor who pointed out that his reporter did not wear a gown and was without any hidden camera or electronic equipment.Breaking news included such gems like 'Abhi Amitabh ko stretcher mein laya gaya', 'Amitabh aaj juice piya tha' (I don't know why they missed out whether he drank orange, apple or pineapple juice!).The coverage had the message that nothing else was happening in the country. But this was not so. Young viewers polled by Mid-Day agreed that the Volcker committee report was more important than the Amitabah soap opera. The media ignored the fact that one of the most famous music directors of Bollywood, OP Nayyar, was also admitted to the Lilavati hospital just before the Amitabh illness.A media watcher for over 30 years, I am distressed at the lack of news sense and the focus on trivia. Nothing is serious, we are told. Watching We the People show, I am often shocked that even while discussing serious issues like rape, child molestation and caste wars, the discussion often degenerates into a club-like atmosphere with laughter and giggles. What kind of conclusions can one draw from this mood of jollity?
I worked in an era when everyone had to be referred to as 'Mr' particularly in big newspapers. There are rotten eggs in politics but that did not mean you can refer to them by their first names."
posted by Cogito at
3:21 PM
2 Comments:
v gandaghar still contributes to the hindu.
By
Kaps, at 12:36 PM
oh.ok. I remember his columns in the Sunday magazine issue.
By
Cogito, at 11:15 AM
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