Sensationalist journalism

The Indian news channels' idea of good journalism seems to be getting blurred by the day. I have been constantly observing the decline of their standards, in particular the award winning 9 O' clock news on the most watched English news channel, CNN IBN. The show is hosted by award winning news reader Rajdeep Sardesai.

The nature of news items that are covered and the quality of their reporting has been dwindling over the past few years. They seem to be on road to becoming the Aaj Tak of English news. In particular, the top story on this show often covers stories which according to me deserve no space on national news. I have been particularly disturbed by the one telecast today: Killer IIT student

I am very disturbed to see such a news item being telecast as the top story on the most watched English news program in the country. And the accused's IIT student status being exploited for sensationalism is equally disturbing. It is obvious that the news channel is stooping to such levels as it is helping its TRPs but what is disturbing is the fact this is actually working for them.

The top story of the day has come to mean the story which will get maximum viewership and not the one which has maximum relevance to the nation.

The people running the channel should be blamed for not doing their duties as a responsible media house but even they can be only accused morally. It is indeed a sorry state for the entire country where Aaj Tak with its 24x7 bullshit is the most watched Hindi channel and now even the english channels are following suit.

I am unable to comprehend why anybody would want to spend 15 mins watching a story of how a spurned love begrudgingly killed a girl. The channel does its best to sensationalise it using the IIT angle and then interviews the mother of the victim, humiliating her by asking questions which were both stupid and racist.

I remember a speech by President Kalam where he mentioned how the newspapers in Israel have inspiring stories on their front page and not just a list of bomb blasts. And on the other hand our newspapers are full of blasts and accidents, rapes and murders. Do we read the paper or watch the news to know how many people died where, how and why? Of course I pray that all the criminals/terrorists be punished but I take no particular interest in knowing the gory details.

For a large number of people reading the papers is the first chore of the day and watching the news is the first thing after work. Thus what they read in the papers influences their first thoughts and feelings of the day and develops a sense of frustration/negativity which continues throughout the day. Same is the case with the 9 O' clock news. I wish for the day when reading the newspaper is a happy experience and leaves me charged up rather than bogged down with images of all the bombings and killings around the world. I'm not saying that I want to close myself to all that is happening around me and live in a utopia unto myself. I want to know about the atrocities but I also want to know about the good stuff happening. Where on the one hand there are terrorists and criminals creating havoc, I am sure there are more people doing good and inspiring work. The media should maintain a balance in what they present and make constructive use of their power of influencing the mindsets of people.