Any Indian having the tenacity to watch the news channels nowadays will know that the news, as we knew it, is dead. In the city of corruption and the footpath of populism, News has died unnoticed. The saddest part is that not many are even condemning this death (although some people are having "sleepless nights" over the predicament of the arrested terror suspects in UK and Australia!)
Yesterday, a 7 floor building collapsed in Borivali (W) of Mumbai. And the prime concern of all the news channels was, whom to be blamed for this act. Today morning, the news was.... "20 feared dead in Mumbai building collapse"......"200 feared dead in the plane crash in Brazil"...... "Amitabh Bachchan is no longer a farmer".......Yes, my dear brothers and sisters! that Mr. Bachchan is not a farmer anymore, is a matter of grave national importance today. That in some obscure village in Haryana, a Baba is able to do what any street magician could, is a matter of grave national importance today. That Ms. (or Mrs..... who cares) Rakhi Sawant wants to talk to a couple of conjoint twins, is a matter of grave national importance today.
The Press (pardon me for using the term but a more appropriate term has not been coined yet) has conveniently turned the definition of news. So much so that, after a point of time, we have even stopped complaining about it. It is like a daily soap for us now. So in the language of popular journalism today, "Who is to be blamed for this murder of News?"..... The answer is unfortunately, all of us. It is a vicious circle, you see. First, we asked so they provided. Now, they provide and we have learnt to consume.
The press is devoid of any discretion, soul or ethics today. They know what to report but not how to report it. They know where to start, but not where to end. In the land of the popular press, a defendant is guilty unless proven otherwise. And sometimes, he is guilty, even if proven otherwise. The press has its own parallel judiciary going on. The poor is always correct, just and victimised. The rich is always wrong, corrupt and the oppressor. Road rage and road accidents are not deemed news-worthy so long as a rich drunk kid is not involved in it. News, today is not that a rape has been committed. The news today is how the rape was committed. If possible, they may even reconstruct the whole scene.
The solution? Stop these 24 x 7 news channels. It is quite alright if they show the news only once in a couple of hours. Put on some movies or some TV serials in the mean time. Make the press responsible for what they publish or show. If they make a mistake or a wrong judgement then make them pay for it. Make them accountable. Let the press, not be the only one to ask questions. Make them answer too.
That's all for now, I just got the news that the News is about to be cremated in a municipality cremation ground. Without a post mortem of course, because that could make the whole sociaty stink. So the least that I can do is pay my last respects.
