A Retaliation or realization!!!!!

Activists of a particular organization rioted outside Star News Office in Mumbai. They had smashed property, and they were aided by Police apathy, which was shattered after a couple of hours. The incident which sparked it all was a marriage that took place between a girl and a man. Now, looking at the context, one should normally view this as a fact that the Media has been targetted by more conservative activists of Society. But, the gut instinct this time is that Star News deserved it! Yes, being part of the media, i will say that the attacks on the Star News office have long been awaited.

The situation was that the girl who was getting married was a Minor. The law clearly states, that the eligibility of marriage for girls is 18, and she was less than that. Now, Star News goes overboard and keeps on replaying the news, and they, instead of highlighting the gross negligence of the law, went indepth with their reportage, without doing a thing. This is not the first account of Star News or any of the Hindi news channels doing this.

It has happened during the Aishwarya Rai-Abhisheik Bachchan wedding. The publicity attempt of a Movie extra, and with the attempts that she undertook to gain maximum mileage were indeed nauseating. Then, followed the Richard Gere-Shilpa Shetty kiss at an AIDS function. Instead of focusing on the main issue of AIDS, the Hindi news channels, most notably Star News went into overdrive and focused only on the kissing aspect. Very small protests had taken place regarding the incident, but Star News and other hindi channels went overboard to highlight and dramatize the protests.

Focusing on the trivial aspects of society, as well as seriously dumbing down news content has resulted in these channels becoming more of an Infotainment channel rather than News channels. There can be no other explanation, when a News channel devotes one hour to showing a re-run of a Soap Opera or countless hours of Jokes by Comedians. It is this triviality that has made certain sections of the Media wonder wether Tabloid Journalism is the order of the day or not.

The unfortunate thing with this is that the real problem wil be sidetracked, and that the attacks by these people will be covered as an attack on Media freedom. I wonder what has Star News done to really inform the people? Other than long hours of Celebrity and entertainment news, as well as footages of Celebrity Grooms riding a horse, and focusing on the Horse which has being getting ready!!!!! The Hindi News Media, barring a certain few (although that has to be checked) have made Tabloid Journalism their norm. These News channels have done nothing for Democracy or to inform the Citizenry of this country.

If certain sections of Society do not realize the above fact, then the Hindi News Media have seriously Dumbed them down. It is perhaps a blessing that this sensationalism has not spread to the Print Media. Publications like Dainik Bhaskar, Rajasthan Patrika are the only shining lights in an otherwise superficial Hindi Broadcast News. Next time, if a certain group attacks these outlets, then the whole country should look behind and beyond the attacks. A norm should be there, that News channels cannot play despicable content and sensationalize it for the Money. But, will they realize that, that is a question which needs to be answered soon.