The Bane of 24/7 News Channels
The news channels today pretty much occupy half the telecast bandwidth. What keeps them running for 24 hrs a day are rumoring, scandalizing and drivelling that come very naturally and easily to these people. Since it is not possible to invent the "real genuine news" with that frequency, there is not much the news channels can do. And besides, they have to compete with music and drama channels too along with a dozen other news channels. So a typical news channel ( which should be appositely called "Miscellaneous Today") offers the following items on the platter : dumb news for dumb people, scandals for scandalmongers, fashion news for fashion-savvy, recipes for cooks-manque, puppet shows for children, bollywood songs/gossip for movie-buffs , etc etc. In case you are wondering what's for "sharp people" , it is yawns and frowns. And if you love to type SMSs but can't figure whom to send them to, they provide you the best platform (imagine your lousy message scrolling at the bottom of the TV screen).
The latest trend is the "breaking news" wherein the news channels discuss in elaboration e-mails/phone calls/handwritten letters sent by miscreants claiming responsibilities for events ranging from bomb blasts to mobbing. It is indeed a proud moment for a news channel receiving exclusively such confessions since it goes on to prove how much faith the criminals have in them and how much effort they are willing to put in to promote the channel. They purport to set up enquiries results of which are never shown since it would be embarrassing to show the sender traced down to their own office.
The "sting operations" are also catching up. But since they are not as simple as getting an e-mail sent to yourself and involve a lot of acting/ active involvement by a lot of people, they are telecast only once in a while. Each channel has its own breaking news for the day and sting operation for the month (originality is important).
We are also shown frequent opinion polls. A news channel ABC asks its viewers to vote which news channel they prefer to watch. Since most normal people would be watching what they prefer to watch unless they are switching channels at the moment , they would be voting for this ABC channel. The channel however proudly declares itself the clear viewership winner (for the 4th consecutive year).
Live debates shown are farces (The topics given to school children are more thought-provoking than the ones picked by news channels ) . When the host enters, you wonder if some gaffe (like a taxi-driver being interviewed instead of a celebrity) is going to happen. Soon you are shocked to realize that you mistook the interviewer for a potential taxi-driver. Then the panelists are invited. The panel would comprise a politician , a lyricist, a professor, a student, a filmmaker, a film actor, a TV actor etc. Together they would discuss a very relevant topic ( such as "Is Lord Krishna important in our lives?? " on the occasion of Janmashtmi ). The film actor says he is like the modern Krishna since he plays a lover boy in his latest film. The lyricist claims to have written many songs with "kanha" words. The politician would have constructed a Krishna temple. A part of the audience sends SMSs that are shown on the screen ( e.g. "I love you Lord Krishna" -meerabai , " I read Geeta everyday" - seeta devi, etc etc). And you watch and yawn because you have nothing better to do (the other news channel is conducting the debate "Are students becoming gundas ?" ).
However, not all is bleak and there are a few plus points too. For instance, the news channels had an important role to play recently in the rescue of the little boy Prince and his meetings with Sunny Deol etc. (the boy would have liked Shah Rukh Khan better). But then there are so many princes/princesses in India who need to be rescued as urgently. Perhaps, the news channels will have a better meaning if they venture into social activism. They could then advertise "News with a purpose". We would not miss the masala that is already in the menu on MTV etc .
The latest trend is the "breaking news" wherein the news channels discuss in elaboration e-mails/phone calls/handwritten letters sent by miscreants claiming responsibilities for events ranging from bomb blasts to mobbing. It is indeed a proud moment for a news channel receiving exclusively such confessions since it goes on to prove how much faith the criminals have in them and how much effort they are willing to put in to promote the channel. They purport to set up enquiries results of which are never shown since it would be embarrassing to show the sender traced down to their own office.
The "sting operations" are also catching up. But since they are not as simple as getting an e-mail sent to yourself and involve a lot of acting/ active involvement by a lot of people, they are telecast only once in a while. Each channel has its own breaking news for the day and sting operation for the month (originality is important).
We are also shown frequent opinion polls. A news channel ABC asks its viewers to vote which news channel they prefer to watch. Since most normal people would be watching what they prefer to watch unless they are switching channels at the moment , they would be voting for this ABC channel. The channel however proudly declares itself the clear viewership winner (for the 4th consecutive year).
Live debates shown are farces (The topics given to school children are more thought-provoking than the ones picked by news channels ) . When the host enters, you wonder if some gaffe (like a taxi-driver being interviewed instead of a celebrity) is going to happen. Soon you are shocked to realize that you mistook the interviewer for a potential taxi-driver. Then the panelists are invited. The panel would comprise a politician , a lyricist, a professor, a student, a filmmaker, a film actor, a TV actor etc. Together they would discuss a very relevant topic ( such as "Is Lord Krishna important in our lives?? " on the occasion of Janmashtmi ). The film actor says he is like the modern Krishna since he plays a lover boy in his latest film. The lyricist claims to have written many songs with "kanha" words. The politician would have constructed a Krishna temple. A part of the audience sends SMSs that are shown on the screen ( e.g. "I love you Lord Krishna" -meerabai , " I read Geeta everyday" - seeta devi, etc etc). And you watch and yawn because you have nothing better to do (the other news channel is conducting the debate "Are students becoming gundas ?" ).
However, not all is bleak and there are a few plus points too. For instance, the news channels had an important role to play recently in the rescue of the little boy Prince and his meetings with Sunny Deol etc. (the boy would have liked Shah Rukh Khan better). But then there are so many princes/princesses in India who need to be rescued as urgently. Perhaps, the news channels will have a better meaning if they venture into social activism. They could then advertise "News with a purpose". We would not miss the masala that is already in the menu on MTV etc .
posted by Sindhu Verma | Tuesday, September 05, 2006
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