Insanities about Indian Media

Insanities about Indian Media

What is news? Any occurrence that needs to be widely reported is called as news. Proprietary demands that it should be reported as faithfully as possible. Herein the biases of the reporters should not cloud their judgment and should retain ability to rationalize the situation to the best of his/ her abilities. Unfortunately, the above said attributes are slowly disappearing from the Indian Media. The fourth estate as it is called as, is slowly loosing its relevance. Independent media is the cornerstone of the democracy. There is an implicit faith and trust in what is written. It is this faith that the editors strive to maintain. However, the recent trends are not at all conducive for the orderly growth of the media.

The most important factor that makes or breaks the newspaper is the advertisement revenue. Hence it becomes imperative that circulation be increased to increase the ad revenue and financially support the newspaper. Given the cheap price of the dailies, they need to be subsidized for some reason. The majority of the ad revenues come from the government tenders and announcements. Hence, the limits of media are drawn to an extent that they do not antagonize the powers that be. Media also includes the Television and radio. As the ad spots are expensive to come by in certain channels, it is for those who have huge ad spends. Particularly when the companies seek to target niche audiences.

This was a quick overview of the general scene. It is difficult to get in the specifics of the ad spends and the advertising industry. The whole of these establishments consists of few major players and marginal players in the fringes.

Perhaps the main reason for this post is the trend of tabloidisation of the Indian media and how they have turned voyeuristic. Media tends to reflect the ethos and the mentality of the society of the times. Perhaps demand creates supply. Yet, it remains up to the editors to balance the market demands and their job for reporting.

Times of India takes the cake for screwing up the perceptions of independent media channel. Consistently they have beaten their own drums and severely curtailed and regionalized the news offerings. This perhaps explains their success in changing the perception from a drab newspaper to hip and happening.

Times has, over the past few years, solely concentrated on widening their reach. Hence, they relied on introducing their regional editions. This flies in the face of logic for a national newspaper, yet it has been extremely profitable for them. My argument always runs counter to the regionalism. I have a strong feeling that until the people are made aware of the fast changing and fluid situations elsewhere, it is extremely probable that they would be left out.

Perhaps the worst charge on Times is that they have institutionalized page 3 phenomenon. Surprisingly it took run of the mill director to make a film on the same theme. Times had a lovely Sunday supplement a few years back. It had everything that one could ask for to be informed. Yet they discontinued with that format and became a vehicle for chosen few to showcase how idiotic they make themselves out to be.

Another trend started by Times is that of advertorial. That is paid advertisements and a write up included in the same. I was appalled to read about such depths that these people had fallen in the name of freedom of media. Times made another smart move. In order to garner steady advertisement revenues, they picked up a stake in a retail company. This is a first example of what commerce can do to freedom of media

With the entry of Times in the television, their staple offering is Zoom, which cannot be described as anything else but crap. At best, it remains a vehicle for those who wish to promote themselves. The “beautiful” people are manufactured, with toothy smiles, plasticized faces, and malnourished bodies they set up a very bad example for so-called Generation X. Unfortunately people love labels. How much is paid for is not known.

Behind this charade is huge cosmetics industry that chooses to showcase its products smeared on these mental retards. Money-spinner for all, everyone is happy. This is indeed a sad reflection of our own sterilized lives; we need constant escapism from the mediocrity that we have set up ourselves around us. None is challenged by ideologies or ideas. This artificial life creates its own imbalances in an individual not given to rational thoughts and exposure. Particularly in those coming from conservative backgrounds who are maladjusted individuals in their own right.

Media needs fodder for consumption. The news channels are not left far behind to be blamed. I would not name any one in particular but increasingly it is getting weirder and weirder. Recently one news channel had shown a live telecast of some marriage ceremony on national television! The who’s who thrives on the rotten publicity to flog whatever they can get out of it.

This indeed calls for scrutiny in the media. Admittedly, there are a few newspapers who have upheld the high traditions of what the fourth estate stands for. My disclaimer here. I did not name any one personally and to be frank, my own observations are limited here. I have read accounts of media persons calling for increased scrutiny of their professions. Based on that, I ventured to write this. My only appeal to the readers is this. Do not get carried away by the spin of events. There would always be someone who is willing to cheat our sensibilities and take our intelligence for granted.

This post was submitted by Dr. Abhishek Puri on Techwhack.