Ordinary Day Ordinary Thoughts

The first thing I saw on TV (and I saw it pretty early too) was that Shilpa Shetty won the Celebrity Big Brother Show. Now that didn’t actually come as a surprise (after all the ruckus the show had kicked up and the brownie points Shilpa had earned with her tears). What surprised me was that it was the ‘Breaking News’. What’s wrong with our media?

Switch to any News Channel on TV and you’ll see the absurdity of these channels glaring into your faces and numbing your senses. Zee News orchestrates the latest developments in the serials aired on Zee TV! NDTV 24X7 has ‘Chhupa Rustum’ (the show that makes hapless citizens victims of a hidden camera with disgusting acts by the anchors). The channel also hosts debates between school and college students on various topics – including ‘Is Media Intrusive?’ News Channels have also started astrological forecasts on a daily basis. One channel even had a numerologist trying to convince the audiences of the possibility of an impending earthquake in the North-East some time back!

It’s not just the programs. Even the coverage leaves a lot to be desired (one great desire of course would be to shut these channels off permanently). On January 1st, NDTV 24X7 had this headline, “New York Rings in New York” in place of New Year. The newsreader also said the Australian government is upset with the Shiv Sena (on the day when Warne announced his retirement) instead of the Maharashtran government. Forget about the spelling and grammatical errors. They abound like mosquitoes in a gutter.

I had thought that some of these channels were good – particularly NDTV and Aaj Tak. I admired the talk shows, interviews and features on NDTV. I even condescended to bear with the ‘Double Take’, an at-times witty puppet show mimicking the newsmakers (mostly politicians, cricketers and film stars). However with each day my belief has crumbled like the proverbial cookie. I really wonder if these channels take themselves too seriously as ‘entertainers’. If one wants entertainment, one would watch any other channel but not a news channel. Who would take this news to these channels?