The Great Indian NEWS Adventure

Remember DD News, the characteristic sober faced news anchors .Though one might be tempted (considering the current trend of histrionics), to accuse them of monotone, but News was then all about Moderation. Our teachers asked us to emulate them when we spoke English. NEWS was then an hourly daily affair, but it made sure one knew everything worth knowing.News was then not a story, and hence had only one version: TRUTH.

But Media has since come a long way. Private Independent channels entered the foray. It was the time when news rooms got bigger, and news making was institutionalized. An army of professional anchors were all over the place, literally reporting from over the ground and under the water. With over a dozen news channels at his disposal, the average Indian viewer was thrilled with this news adventure. The News in India changed forever.

Credibility of news today is always under scanner. Below is an attempt to explore the major reasons which lead to increased media apathy amidst the reader.

Celebrity Culture: Gone are the days when a chief editor was neither seen heard but only read. A DD anchor was 20 minutes encounter with news reality, while (I bet) no one ever knew who the news editor of the news that he religiously listened daily, was. A far cry from today, where every editor-anchor, is a recognizable celebrity, streaming (read screaming) live on our TV sets for at least 7-8 hrs a day. Any attempt of conspicuous non promotion of self, under present norms, will be a professional hara-kiri.

Stings and Exclusives: While one may argue, that living in a very imperfect world, stings help to expose many such distortions of society, which otherwise will go unchallenged, unless secretively filmed n exposed. But for record, when was the last time a sting "exposed" something, worth the noise it created? The most famous sting, with its delayed telecast and the controversy surrounding it, created more doubts than the expose, it promised.
Exclusive reporting too has come a long way. From reporting live, from ground zero, the idea has been skewed to include recorded footage, as live. This seriously undermines and questions the journalistic ethos and highlights the blatant contempt that the channels have towards the intellect of its viewers.

Increasing Power affiliation: While Radia-tapes may fail to formulate a legitimate case in court for law, it validates a more alarming concern of growing proximity of the media with the 'power center' and an increasing attempt to influence the policy decision. Introduction of the corporate lobbyist, establishes how the entire policy making process is being institutionalized, and high stake corporate rivalry poses a threat to subvert the entire legislative process.

Trial and Media Judgment: With the increasing shift of focus from delivering news to organizing and orchestrating panel debates, our celebrity anchors have increasingly become judgmental, and in a country, where it takes a life time for a legal process to deliver justice, this push of a button justice has found quite a few takers. No issue of minutest significance dare pass our Media judges without it being presented to an “eminent’ panel and a decisive judgment pronounced. The delusion of grandeur that stems from the utter dis-regard of the judicial process of the country is evident in cases where these Studio “judges” have even debated the court ruling.

Paid News: What else, but this, could explain the “liberal Bias” that a viewer is constantly subjected to. In its symptomatic manifestation, this epidemic posses the threat to root out the very vitals of our democracy.  Editorial hv increasingly become tools to sway public opinion. But for this regular infusion of capital many of the news channels would have closed shops or declared themselves, charitable trusts, if their financials are to be believed.

So unless, media practices self regulation and consciously restrains itself from decisive, over the board reporting, its credibility that"s under scanner shall be further damaged.

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