Existence by TRPs

Fatwas by the moguls of TV channels

The recent programs which are being telecast on television at times (most times) are repulsive. One cannot but wonder whether the media is acting irresponsibly. Sensationalism, the relentless lust for ‘eyeballs’ reminds one of the rat-race where some potential offenders and some innocents are being hung without a fair trial. ‘Judgement by the media’ is the worst thing to happen.

To illustrate my point I would like to recount one incident which appeared on one “gossip-mongering” 24 hour news channel.

A 40 year old separated woman was having an alleged affair with her neighbor. She earned her living by selling vegetables in the city markets. Her 20 yr old son didn’t take kindly to the fact. It resulted in the murder of the neighbor at the hands of the woman’s son.

The judgment of the channel: The son was forced into murdering the neighbor because of the situation created by his mother and the alleged paramour.

The victim: The son. A young life now forced behind bars because his mother had the alleged audacity to seek succour, support (or whatever else) in the arms of her neighbor.

The culprit: The woman who was responsible for the murder by choosing to live life her own way, a legal way but not conforming to mores of cheap morality dished out by our society and its self-appointed conscience keepers.

The Idiot: The neighbor… now dead and condemned. He would have had an affair with a younger woman .. why the hell did he choose an older woman with a son his age?

The Judge: The TV news show anchor, who wears a beard, has a funny accent, has an exaggerated body language.

Suffice it to say that this cheap news mongering is more responsible for propagating ideas whose time has long been served They do not realize the damage they are doing … perhaps they do -- but hey, it is programs like these which ring in the ad revenues and keep them ahead in the race for the #1 slot.

I am all for freedom of speech and honest reporting, but biased and skewed new reporting is doing irreparable damage, the impact of which would be seen a few years from now.

To give the news media their due credit, their actions in exposing corrupt politicians, bureaucrats etc. is commendable.

I just have this to say to the news-wallahs: “You don’t need to stoop to levels unbecoming of you to keep your channel going. Be true to yourself and the society – your responsibility to the society is much higher than that to the ad revenues that you are chasing”

P.S: I have not talked about the “saas-bahu” sagas going on endlessly on TV channels … They are living in the stone age; propagating ideas which are regressive … (Aside: If Ekta Kapoor had her way, she’d probably spell regressive as “Kkregressivvee”)