Friday, April 21, 2006

State of "news channels" in India

In the recent issue of the Indian magazine "The Week" (april 23,2006) , there is an article by Antara Dev Sen under the column "I Witness" titled "Live, uncensored porn".
It is a scathing commentry about the current state of Indian media (TV) journalism . The specific incident she mentions is about some goof-up which happened in Indian Fashion week ... and the way media reacted in a downright vulgar and irresponsible manner (skin sells !) bordering on yellow journalism. Very interesting read.

It has been my opinion for sometime that , since the advent of the various 'news channels' , things have gone from bad to worse for TV journalism. There is a high degree of stress on sensationalism ... a emphasis on marketting every bit of news out there , to squeeze any possible viewership out of every nugget of info presented.
It is downright depressing and sometimes vulgar the way these guys run around trying to get the 'scoop' on things. They are so insensitive to the feeling of the people involved (they mouth the right words , and their actions are the opposite - the IISc incident from last year comes to mind) ...
The various 'reality shows' are crass violation of privacy, and the 'debates' are just some way for various groups to sling mud on each other.... the more mud they sling , the better !
I seriously hope good journalism comes back to being mainstay again - the kind which highlighted important issues : the ones which mattered to the country.

6 Comments:

Blogger Kousik said...

I guess they have a target like they have to bring in 5 "breaking news" per day. And I can't believe the way the wardrobe malfunctions were covered. When they were reading the news, the same scene of 5 seconds were continuously playing in the background, like a 20KB animated gif pr0n downloaded via a flacky telephone line we used to relish in our school days.

4/21/2006 07:38:00 PM  
Blogger Mridul said...

@kousik
ROFL , nice description ... that is exactly how I felt when I saw it !
By the way , if you noticed the way they covered the Pramod Mahajan incident this weekend ... they were just reinforcing what I posted :-(
They made it into some sort of entertainment show !
Live updates and on the fly interviews for more 'spicy' coverage ... sick

4/23/2006 11:35:00 PM  
Blogger Moonjungle said...

I swear man! Politicians have such staying power, even after accquiring a bullet collection in his bloody liver. The people of Mumbai need more holidays, why doesn't he keel over.

4/24/2006 04:52:00 PM  
Blogger Mridul Kashatria said...

Has anybody heard any news about science & technology in Indian News Channels. You know, they don't bother about this. All they want to tell us is from which college graduates gets maximum salary. Ever heard about any invention, discovery kind of thing?
Also, whole of the world is facing enviornmental problems and media here is still covering politics.
I personally like to see BBC World, they cover all subjects nicely, including climate change. What do you say?
-----------
Sun Energy World

4/24/2006 11:07:00 PM  
Blogger Mridul Kashatria said...

Hey, I'm Mridul Kashatria. Not the author of this site.

4/24/2006 11:09:00 PM  
Blogger Mridul said...

@ guru

In a way you are right - he does have a tenacious grip !
But then , in this case I am ok with him trying to make a comeback - me in his shoes : I would want to come back and kick my brother's ass royally for pulling this stunt on me - KO before I am ready ! WTF cheater !!

@ Mridul Kashatria
You gave me a shock there when I saw the comment notifications - when did I post those comments !
Interesting points : and I totally agree about science not being covered.
Actually art is also not really covered - except when there is explict glamour involved I guess.
I 'lost' faith in BBC when I saw the way in which they covered gulf war : they were dishing out war propoganda :-(

4/25/2006 12:35:00 AM  

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