Media Madness or Mission Impossible
Media Madness on Mission Impossible
Too many things are happening around us to grab our eyeballs to dozens of TV news channels working overtime, it appears. Breakneck speed with which these channels are vying one another to bombard the viewers with "BREAKING NEWS" has nearly achieved a supersonic scale. The prime reason for this is obviously the increased number of competitors. This story is common to all TV channels having all-India reach (English and Hindi) as well as the ones catering to needs of the news-hungry Bengali "bhadrolok", generally in search of material for a round of animated gossip in the next morning's 'adda' at the local teashop and/or office.
BENGALI BURP
Of course, many would tend to ascribe the rise of the Bengali news channel to the huge number of "politically conscious" population of the State. But going deeper into the impact of the presentations of the contentious topics –mostly related to the State politics, with occasional sprinkling of industry and economic matters having political overtone, it does not hold to be true, at least for the best part of it. Very rarely social issues including education system of the State become the central issue of the husting--that too, only when it relates to politics. There is too much of shouting than substance. The handful of panelists in chat shows appear to be hopping from one studio to another throughout the day. For this they cannot but repeat themselves on the same topic in different channels failing to provide any fresh dimension to the topics under discussions. The TV anchors perform their role dutifully to enhance the rating of their programmes by playing it safe most of the time in respect of subjects that, in their opinion, might alienate a section of the TV viewers. Investigative journalism is largely conspicuous by its absence. Neither is their apparent support to individuals sufferings under the callous and/or oppressive hands of the State or non-State actors is sustainable or honest. Public memory is proverbially short. The electronic media fare no better than 'public' in this regard. A daily newspaper deals with the events of the day; the electronic media deal with minutes and hours. The transient nature of their viewership hardly allow these channels to take up any controversial topic for discussion and/or presentation at length. Besides, the 'commercial breaks' are inevitable, but those take away much of the punch from the core issues under deliberation. We may ague to cancel out this aspect of a TV chat-show or news reporting considering the fact that such diversions are common to all of them. But the limitations appear to be lying elsewhere, especially in case of local media houses. First, they lack either the wherewithal or the requisite reach to smell a news worthy of people's interest. For example, recently a political bigwig has been in jail custody for allegedly being connected with a big white-colour crime involving thousands of crores of rupees. The related story is being flashed by all local channels on daily basis in all available presentation format. As the matter is sub judice , no final word can be said about the culpability of any one , including the political heavyweights. In fact the story has lost its appeal to TV viewers due to its overexposure.
An anti-establishment stance alone does not make a channel “bold and independent”; though a handful of them claim to change “the perception and thinking” of the viewers day in and day out. They have to be alert observers and must have the tenacity to follow up a story that caused ripples in the public mind. The local Bengali news channels have very little to claim any honour on this count.
Remember the lady who was brutalized by a gang of pub-going young men about 3 years ago in the Park Street in a moving private SUV. There was huge uproar in the local TV channels that had its echoes throughout the length and the breadth of the country. There were innumerable chat shows and expert's opinion sessions to cater to the majority public opinion. Further unacceptable comments doled out by the politicians on that shameful incident were given more than adequate TV coverage. Delay in starting investigation was alleged by many and a few others tried to find fault with the conduct of the victim lady. The victim raised another round of deliberation dust as she, unlike many other rape victims, thought it prudent not to hide her identity. Two of the accused had absconded by the time serious investigations started. The case is still open in the court of law. Sympathy flowed abundantly for some time. Then it went into oblivion. She occupied airtime briefly once thereafter when she was stopped from entering an restaurant for her alleged misdemeanor earlier.
And the curtain dropped on the story with the sad demise of the lady at a government hospital after a brief spell of illness. Prior to that the unfortunate victim had suffered financial hardships, social ignominy, the usual tribulations associated with judicial procedure involving the trial in a rape case. To add to her owe, the main accused could not be apprehended and the trial had remained probably inconclusive to this day ("probably", because nothing is heard of the case either in print media or its electronic brethren).At one point of time, for the TV people it was not just another crime committed by a few wayward young men, it raised serious political and social issues. Now it is nothing !
In a way that is a reflection of the existent mindset of a large chunk of the target group of the media business. Just think of the media coverage of the rather funny ending of the reported disappearance of a news reporter of a popular daily of North Bengal on the 2nd. of August' 15. The disappearance was linked to the publication of his investigative report on an alleged illegal act of extortion of money by some bullies in a local college. There were a lot of speculations as to how he could have been abducted to take revenge for such damaging revelation in the newspaper. There were sessions of animated and often acrimonious discussions on the issue of his disappearance branding such incidence as a grave threat to the freedom of press. The government promptly ordered C.I.D. enquiry. After a couple of days, the said reporter surfaced only to tell the police that he had gone away on his own owing to a family discord. Press freedom factor evaporated, and the media tasted how an incident misled one and all in search of something sensational to grab the viewers' attention.
At the end of the day, the Bengali electronic news media remain a source of entertainment in different format for the audience that might not get the requisite kick out of the daily dose of mega serials, songs and dance programmes. Frankly speaking they have not faltered on any mission objective, as it is not possible for any commercial entity to touch a topic that could shake the existing fabric of the society. For them it is case of “mission impossible”.
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Too many things are happening around us to grab our eyeballs to dozens of TV news channels working overtime, it appears. Breakneck speed with which these channels are vying one another to bombard the viewers with "BREAKING NEWS" has nearly achieved a supersonic scale. The prime reason for this is obviously the increased number of competitors. This story is common to all TV channels having all-India reach (English and Hindi) as well as the ones catering to needs of the news-hungry Bengali "bhadrolok", generally in search of material for a round of animated gossip in the next morning's 'adda' at the local teashop and/or office.
BENGALI BURP
Of course, many would tend to ascribe the rise of the Bengali news channel to the huge number of "politically conscious" population of the State. But going deeper into the impact of the presentations of the contentious topics –mostly related to the State politics, with occasional sprinkling of industry and economic matters having political overtone, it does not hold to be true, at least for the best part of it. Very rarely social issues including education system of the State become the central issue of the husting--that too, only when it relates to politics. There is too much of shouting than substance. The handful of panelists in chat shows appear to be hopping from one studio to another throughout the day. For this they cannot but repeat themselves on the same topic in different channels failing to provide any fresh dimension to the topics under discussions. The TV anchors perform their role dutifully to enhance the rating of their programmes by playing it safe most of the time in respect of subjects that, in their opinion, might alienate a section of the TV viewers. Investigative journalism is largely conspicuous by its absence. Neither is their apparent support to individuals sufferings under the callous and/or oppressive hands of the State or non-State actors is sustainable or honest. Public memory is proverbially short. The electronic media fare no better than 'public' in this regard. A daily newspaper deals with the events of the day; the electronic media deal with minutes and hours. The transient nature of their viewership hardly allow these channels to take up any controversial topic for discussion and/or presentation at length. Besides, the 'commercial breaks' are inevitable, but those take away much of the punch from the core issues under deliberation. We may ague to cancel out this aspect of a TV chat-show or news reporting considering the fact that such diversions are common to all of them. But the limitations appear to be lying elsewhere, especially in case of local media houses. First, they lack either the wherewithal or the requisite reach to smell a news worthy of people's interest. For example, recently a political bigwig has been in jail custody for allegedly being connected with a big white-colour crime involving thousands of crores of rupees. The related story is being flashed by all local channels on daily basis in all available presentation format. As the matter is sub judice , no final word can be said about the culpability of any one , including the political heavyweights. In fact the story has lost its appeal to TV viewers due to its overexposure.An anti-establishment stance alone does not make a channel “bold and independent”; though a handful of them claim to change “the perception and thinking” of the viewers day in and day out. They have to be alert observers and must have the tenacity to follow up a story that caused ripples in the public mind. The local Bengali news channels have very little to claim any honour on this count.
Remember the lady who was brutalized by a gang of pub-going young men about 3 years ago in the Park Street in a moving private SUV. There was huge uproar in the local TV channels that had its echoes throughout the length and the breadth of the country. There were innumerable chat shows and expert's opinion sessions to cater to the majority public opinion. Further unacceptable comments doled out by the politicians on that shameful incident were given more than adequate TV coverage. Delay in starting investigation was alleged by many and a few others tried to find fault with the conduct of the victim lady. The victim raised another round of deliberation dust as she, unlike many other rape victims, thought it prudent not to hide her identity. Two of the accused had absconded by the time serious investigations started. The case is still open in the court of law. Sympathy flowed abundantly for some time. Then it went into oblivion. She occupied airtime briefly once thereafter when she was stopped from entering an restaurant for her alleged misdemeanor earlier.
And the curtain dropped on the story with the sad demise of the lady at a government hospital after a brief spell of illness. Prior to that the unfortunate victim had suffered financial hardships, social ignominy, the usual tribulations associated with judicial procedure involving the trial in a rape case. To add to her owe, the main accused could not be apprehended and the trial had remained probably inconclusive to this day ("probably", because nothing is heard of the case either in print media or its electronic brethren).At one point of time, for the TV people it was not just another crime committed by a few wayward young men, it raised serious political and social issues. Now it is nothing !
In a way that is a reflection of the existent mindset of a large chunk of the target group of the media business. Just think of the media coverage of the rather funny ending of the reported disappearance of a news reporter of a popular daily of North Bengal on the 2nd. of August' 15. The disappearance was linked to the publication of his investigative report on an alleged illegal act of extortion of money by some bullies in a local college. There were a lot of speculations as to how he could have been abducted to take revenge for such damaging revelation in the newspaper. There were sessions of animated and often acrimonious discussions on the issue of his disappearance branding such incidence as a grave threat to the freedom of press. The government promptly ordered C.I.D. enquiry. After a couple of days, the said reporter surfaced only to tell the police that he had gone away on his own owing to a family discord. Press freedom factor evaporated, and the media tasted how an incident misled one and all in search of something sensational to grab the viewers' attention.
At the end of the day, the Bengali electronic news media remain a source of entertainment in different format for the audience that might not get the requisite kick out of the daily dose of mega serials, songs and dance programmes. Frankly speaking they have not faltered on any mission objective, as it is not possible for any commercial entity to touch a topic that could shake the existing fabric of the society. For them it is case of “mission impossible”.
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You have told the basic attitude of the channels and its impact. Recently, Gujrat Patel issue was hardly discussed in Bengali channels as more saucy Mumbai alleged murder of daughter by mother got priority. Hats off to you, my dear friend for recording your views in such a critical way.
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