The following article was written for OpIndia. Pasting it here for reference.
The current
obsession of the English and Hindi TV media is the Sushant Singh Rajput case.
Thousands and thousands of hours’ worth of content has been aired over the past
couple of months. Reams and reams of
content has been written on how a massive waste of time these thousands and
thousands of hours’ have been!
And most of this
written content has one underlying
theme – It is Arnab Goswami who is responsible for the fall of the English
TV media! With Arnab now overtaking Aaj Tak to become the most watched Hindi
news channels too, the attacks have only sharpened and increased.
My mind
immediately went back to something I
wrote way back in 2012. Past few years, we have seen many memes that make
jokes on how there ~10 panelists on the TV screen shouting over each other.
More often that not, meme makers have focused on Arnab’s shows only. Well, here
is a snapshot from the year 2011.
We all have just
seen how an anchor was chided for asking a panelist to focus on the topic
(Sushant Singh) and not diver the topic (towards the GDP). Examples galore can
be cited on non-serious issues that have been aired by the media. So, what is
the answer to the question on why aren’t serious debated on prime time? For
today, we go back all way to the year 2009.
In May 2009,
in an online chat, I asked Dr. Prannoy Roy: “What do you think the media
has learned from this election?".
His full reply
is in the snapshot below. The relevant line from his answer is this – “serious
issues like hunger or unemployment do not come into focus because these are
hard to sensationalise.“
Figure 2: Snapshot of an online
chat with Dr. Prannoy Roy in the year 2009
Back in 2009,
Dr. Prannoy Roy was one of the most powerful media owners (perhaps the most
powerful too!). NDTV was at their peak and was often the go-to channel for
thousands of viewers. Some surveys even indicated that they had 60% market
share. NDTV’s anchors were involved in cabinet berth negotiations. And the words
of the then most powerful media organization - “hunger or unemployment
are hard to sensationalise”.
Also,
don’t miss this in his answer - "So media needs to learn to focus on real issues during
campaigning". And this was the year 2009. I don’t have to tell you, the
smart viewer, how absolutely nothing changed from the year 2009. It only got
worse with every passing year. So, make as many memes as you want; make
as many jokes as you want – but it wasn’t Arnab who pioneered the art of
filling up your TV screens with multiple people. That fault lies elsewhere!
When Obama came
to India in 2010, another sermonizer Bhupendra Chaubey gave us a very
critical piece of news that redefined the political paradigm of our country
– “Gursharan kaur and sonia gandhi were wearing a similar colour saree, a
sort of red colour”.
In February
2012, the media conducted day long debates on a Supreme Court Judgment. The
biggest sermonizer of them all, Rajdeep Sardesai was at the forefront of
conducting the debates the whole day. And he tweets
late into the night that “Reading SC judgement on way back from
office.” And when questioned how he conducted debates the entire day
without even reading the judgment, he replies “read the main points in
the day. now reading the fine print. devil often in the detail!”
Who amongst us
can forget how Sagarika Ghose faked an entire
interview with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in the year 2011? Who amongst us can forget
how she first tried to brazen it out and later issued a small apology on TV?
What can be worse than faking an interview? What can be more damaging than
cheating your viewers?
There is no
dearth of many such examples (dearth of coverage of important debates in Parliament,
linking the sterling and pioneering
discovery of Higgs Boson to Internet Hindus, falsely accusing
people of murder etc). Prannoy Roy, Rajdeep Sardesai, Sagarika Ghose,
Barkha Dutt – these were popular names during the times of the rise of the
reach of English TV media. These were powerful names with clout in the
corridors of power. At the peak of their power, each one of them have
sermonized on what ails the very same media they are pioneers of!
Journalism
needs to rediscover its soul – Rajdeep Sardesai (2012). Rajdeep was
disillusioned with journalism when he was owned a powerful media channel in
2012. After 2012, Rajdeep has gone on to get violent on the streets, conducted
extremely ill-prepared interviews with senior politicians, announced death of a
former President of India while he was alive, got called out by many interviewees
for his boorish nature and yet survives in the industry!
I don’t watch English
news anymore. Infact, haven’t watched any channel since many years. I am not a
fan of loud debates. I am not a fan of Arnab Goswami, just like I am no more a
fan of Rajdeep and Prannoy. I have written against their style of coverage
extensively, even rejecting an invite for a “debate” on NDTV back in 2012!
The chicanery, lies,
agenda and incompetence of some big names in the TV media have been first exposed
by ordinary people. They continue to be on the forefront to do so. So, make
as many memes as you want; make as many jokes as you want – but it isn’t Arnab
who is responsible for the situation in the TV media. Those who pioneered this
fall must stop faking their concern and also stop sermonizing us. Because facts
speak otherwise!
