NEWS and us

Remember the days when the whole family used to huddle up around the television set  to watch "World this week"?? when the pioneer of International news in India, Doordarshan was our only window into International political affairs.When news was more of a tryst with reality and tangibility.

Growing up on a staple dose of the National Network was in many ways the best thing that could have happened to me in the realm of electronic media. While some of my friends thrived on aaj tak and the likes, i was here, a bore (according to the aaj tak enthusiasts) who was trying to make sense of the world through a T.V show. If i were to replace the old me and place her into the year of 2011, crank up and let your imagination aloof. A pimple faced teenager with a head full of confusion in this era of the commercialized media would probably never know the difference between the real news and.. news. Its depressing how the youngsters these days equate  news with NDTV,CNN Ibn, aaj tak  and the other so-called news channels. 

'Passion' an over rated and abused term. ask any average Indian about any of the reporters they see on the T.V and you hear a prompt "arrey he is toh very passionate"  It feels like our country is growing like mushrooms, on left overs. A point of view, a thirst for the real news is smothered by the personal, biased opinions of the news presenters and the viewers reflect the same opinions like zombies.

 I would not quite jump from my seat if the next big scandal was of one of our very popular journalists (so-called) were found to have secret associations with political parties!

While we have news channels who sugar coat and gloss up the reality on one hand, the other side we have channels who use 'tools' like religious bias to garner high TRPs. The television medium i feel has become successful in mass deception and as Adorno and Horkheimer rightfully say

 " Movies and radio need no longer pretend to be art. The truth that they are just business is made into an ideology in order to justify the rubbish they deliberately produce. They call themselves industries; and when their directors’ incomes are published, any doubt about the social utility of the finished products is removed."

Its time we started having our point of views about current affairs. However big or small. One big movement against corruption wont change the nation.Change is a constant, intellectual engagement that has to happen within each individual and  reach out to the real world thereafter. We need a country of people who can think for themselves and be human and it must start with 'me'.