‘Cloning’ in Indian
Media
Love him or
hate him; but you cannot ignore him. Arnab Goswami ushered in a new era in
Indian ‘journalism’. His rash, aggressive, insolent and opinionated style of
news casting, his not-too-equitable anchoring of debates on key national issues,
and his street-level, often childlike, arguments with conveniently picked
guests became a popular prime time draw for scores of viewers. This
self-appointed custodian of national opinion blasted, ridiculed and insinuated or
patronized people at will, picking up the hottest topic of the day. In the name
of ‘the nation wants to know’ he appointed himself the judge, jury and the
executioner.
We loved him
for his research, for his eloquence, and for his ‘fearless’ questioning. Then,
we started frowning at his non-stop lectures when the questions invariably turned
out to be much longer than any answer. With time, many of us stopped watching
his orchestrated cacophony, unable to bear with his arrogance, his disrespect
to others, and an emergent smell of a sophisticated shill.
However, a
whole new generation of our ‘journalists’ seems to have now been ‘Arnabised’! They
are trying hard to look tough, I-don’t-care-for-anyone’ kinds, most of them
passing judgement rather than casting news! For example, Anand Narasimhan was our
boy-next-door in the media. But now, in an effort to mimic his ex-boss, the
angry young man looks like a case of attempted cloning gone horribly wrong!
The other
day I watched ‘prime time’ after a long escape. Naveeka Kumar gave an elongated
introduction, packed with her own (or the channel management’s) views and
assessment, delivered with confrontational articulacy, even before she read any
news. Later, I saw her anchor a debate. The cameraman focused on her as she
asked a question to one of the participants. Trying to look tough and blunt to
her millions of viewers, she ended up looking like a wannabe gangster
questioning a hapless captive in a third grade Bollywood fiasco!
The credit
for this post, however, goes to Rahul Shivshankar, another young victim of
the ‘Arnab Doctrine’. Sometime back, I had the misfortune of watching him
anchor a discussion on the Rohingya refugees. One of the participants quoted
Rev. Desmond Tutu. An angry Rahul retorted back, “I don’t care for Tu-tus and
Three-threes!” I was aghast to hear this ‘journalist’ deride a respected Nobel
Laureate this way on national television! If he did not know Rev. Desmond Tutu, then my heart goes out
to Rahul! If he knew and still uttered those words, he is beyond repairs!
Why is our
media treading this path? Why are they sensationalizing every bit of news? Do
we need that dramatic soundtrack in the background? Do we need the disturbing
video clips, at times not even directly related to the news, played over and
over again? Is it fair for them to play a serious audio or a video clip when
they run a disclaimer saying the channel cannot vouch for the authenticity?
Must the reporters look tense and hassled as they try to report live
breathlessly? Why are they playing with our emotions?
Can anyone
rein them in before more damages are inflicted on the august profession of
journalism?
A renowned
philosopher wrote decades back that the biggest threat to democracy shall come in
from the free media. When I read this well before the curse of twenty four by
seven news channels befell on us I was perplexed. After all free media is
supposed to be a key sponsor of our democratic rights! Now, I see it coming
true. We are getting to know and believe things that the media wants us to know
and believe, sensationalized by dramatic audio-visuals, hammered in by
belligerent anchors, and reinforced by relentless repeats over days.
The owners,
the producers, the backers, and the influencers of our news channels should reverse
this trend and bring some decorum to reporting and anchoring. That is unlikely
though; it is a business after all…the business of influencing public opinion,
of TRP etc. Hence, I ask the viewers to reject sensational reporting, to turn
away from fish-market-like ‘debates’,
shun disrespectful anchors and demand plain vanilla reporting of events
as they happened.
Until then,
the news soap operas will flourish; so will their protagonists!
