TV,TRP And Dokha

I recently came across a famous remark made by a infamous person( I forgot the source :P) –
"We all get the press we deserve".
My first thought was like .. If this is true,then Man..we must all be real _____(u know what :P).Let’s face it,the news of Indian television channels are categorised into
a).Flashing News(Shoaib and Sania Mirza updating their facebook status to “In a relationship”)
b).Breaking News(Modi tweeting that he has got a itch in his left ear and blames Tharoor of spreading ear cancer by calling him on a mobile phone)

All other news (news that matter) never qualify to be a part of the main news telecast and are subjected to the Misc. Part of the telecast.

Wait a minute..Isn’t there a term for this sort of journalism..yes..It is “Yellow Journalism”..It is a type of journalism that downplays legitimate news in favor of eye-catching headlines that sell more newspapers or in our case TRP’s.

By Indian press ,I mean mainly the television media and not the print medium. Print media somehow is never on your face and there are respectable newspapers(Thank GOD!!) which really produce quality articles and great journalists. Iam not telling there are no viruses in the print media but we can live without them.


The reality of television is TRP’s and it is the TRP rating which seem to drive the news channels rather than the quality of news being broadcasted. As basic economics suggest that any product is driven by supply and demand, the success of sensational news really points to the fact that we love them. We seem to love controversies be it the recent Modi-Tharoor face off or the Sania-Shoaib-Ayesha love(or hate??) triangle. Iam not telling that both the news are insignificant, but do they really deserve the hype and hoopla which was being portrayed in the media?? No ,I don’t think so...


The news channels also commit far greater crimes which seldom go unnoticed. The 26/11 attacks on Mumbai is the Indian equivalent of September 11 and the loss of lives and emotional scar it left on the maximum city will take a lot of time to heal. The news channels did not show any restraint at the time of the attack and there was a steady broadcast of the moves taken by the NSG. In a war ,the element of surprise plays a big role and this was thwarted by the exhaustive coverage of the new channels highlighting the arrival of helicopters and the moves of the NSG commanders outside the Taj and the Nariman Point. All the terrorists needed to know about their enemies was telecasted live by the news channels except by NDTV( to its credit..PS- This piece of info was got by extensive googling. Still not sure about the veracity of the info)

Another piece of human weakness being used by the media is the voyeurism. The recent Nityananda scandal stands testimony to this. The extent of coverage showing the videos in public domain without verifying the veracity of the info was condemned by all but the TRP ratings would have soared for the time the videos were shown on television and that is what matters to them. It was rightly condemned by the Supreme Court and were asked to be removed from the public domain till proven guilty.
Media is the supposed to be the fourth “pillar” of the society, but the question is that “Is the media really fair??” .Media,for the good or bad plays a pivotal role in forming perceptions amongst the people and perceptions win elections and destroys governments. The importance of it’s unbiasedness is pivotal for India ,but the nexus between the media and parties is alarming. The prime examples of parties funded channels and newspapers are growing. The entire arena of news papers and channels are being split into war fields and become mouth pieces of parties rather than remain impartial.


All scathing criticisms apart, the Media has done a fantastic role in bringing the guilty to justice fighting against all odds in many cases like the Jessica Lal case and uncovering scams like the recent Mining kingdom held by the Reddy Brothers in Ap and Karnataka.But it has also committed a grave mistake of having it’s emotions up its sleeve and conduct public trials in many cases. Indian Media has acted like a emotional human being without restraint.


India needs a strong and sensible media to be by its side to throw light on the issues that matter so that India can really dream to become a global superpower as it is poised to be. The media must realise it’s power and realise that “With great power comes great responsibility” and systematically reduce the sensational news with the sensible news and undo the Dhoka done to the viewers all along....Wishful thinking you may say but Hey..Miracles do happen..