“Thousand deaths are statistics, one death is a tragedy.” I was having a discussion with one of my friends when he said this. Indeed; so true.
I do not surf through many news channels. Hence, my observations may not be universally true. One such evening, while working out in the gym, I was watching the 8 PM news on the English news channel that I follow. The flash news was the unfortunate death of a 14-year old student in Pune who was diagnosed pretty late of Swine Flu. My deepest and most sincere condolences go to the family of the girl and her close ones. However, the news did not warrant capturing the entire 30 minutes. The channel went on dissecting that news item-“what was the name of the school”?, “Have other classmates been quarantined?”, “Was it a case of negligence?”, “What will you do now?”. It just went on.
More so, the coverage or should I say the ‘report from ground zero’ is meant to sensationalize these news items. The falling of a child in a bore well becomes the top news story. I am sure there were many people dying of hunger. I am sure there were many committing suicide owing to drought. I am sure infant mortality rate is still a cause of concern. I am sure that mothers are dying while giving birth due to inadequate medical facilities. But, how often do you see these things making to the top of the news? Or, guess what? These have become commonplace and hence, these are not news items anymore.
Not long before, the Aarushi murder case became a piece of entertainment for the news channels. So many theories evolved. Psychologists were consulted. “Was it ‘honor killing’?”, “Did it have something to do with teenage infatuation?” For heaven’s sake, a young girl had been killed. The least that could have been done was leave the family in peace and not come up with baseless motives for the murder. But, these interpretations did achieve what they were intended to -the TRPs had shot through the roof.
Amidst the vivid portrayal of human opportunism and (later) guilt, Kirk Douglas, in his masterpiece Ace in the Hole, said something which caught my attention-Bad News sells best. Coz good news is no news. Today, I see the opportunism. But sadly, I do not see the guilt.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I always wondered do these news reader have emotions, the way they sensationalize any news whether Bombay terror attach, floods, murder case or swine flu.
ReplyDeleteTo add to it if have watched this movie called " Mubai Meri Jaan" there is a scene where the would-be-spouse of this journalist dies in a bomb blast and then she is forced to cover they same story, she realizes how it feels by selling these sensational news without even bothering about the state of family members and friends... anyways - this will go on as all are part of the mad race of earning more and more money without even realizing they are going away from humanity.
So true..was pondering on same..for media..its more of bits for certain phase..being in Pune..I have realized..that how seven days back..Swine flu was hitting front every day..now it has subdued to front bottom page..and so is the public apprehension towards the flu...
ReplyDeleteIts high time for Media to stop sensitizing each and every news...
I read this somewhere about increasing capitalism and commercialisation - "Billions of dollars is being spent to sell the people what they really don't need " ... looks like this applies to News as well... I think News has become a commodity now ..
ReplyDelete