Breaking News!!!

The day was 11th september 2001, I was watching TV in the evening ... surfing channels when i saw a breaking news flashing on CNN ... two planes crashed in WTC ... at that instant it looked an accident but as we all know it has been one of the significant events in world history!

Zoom to 2008 ... around 10-15 news channels exist in india ... and if you are getting bored these can provide you the entertainment ... something that was never expected coming from a news channel!

"Breaking News" is something which is always flashing on these channels and every channel is showing a different breaking news :S

Height is that these news channels project any news as breaking news ... i mean absolutely anything under the sun... whether it's sanjay dutt marrying for the third time ... or rumour of raj thakrey getting arrested .... or be it Abhishek-aishwarya on a temple spree !!

I sometimes wonder what is the point of giving such news .... are people looking for news that "entertain" or news that inform?

I am not against news that entertain ... if you see some channels do use it in a subtle manner and as something in between all serious news ... like we use pickle but ... you dont have the whole pickle bottle for lunch ?!!?

Another grudge against these news is the repeatative nature of them ... they just keep on repeating the same thing ... although come to think of it ... viewers are advised NOT to stay on the same news channel for more than say ... 3 mins ;)

Never mind the entertainment ... after all these channels are still on AIR means that "shockingly" they do have some audience!!

But what about the distorted news ? Especially when the politicians are always willing to indulge "vote-bank" politics ... the news channels by giving biased views simply play into their hands so that they can gain political mileage from it! What if such a distorted news serves as a spark amongst all the communal tension! Dont you think that news channels OUGHT to be more responsible?

If this is the way "News" are going to be ... I am seriously worried about the future!

Thankfully national news channels have stayed away from all this circus ... and managed to stay purely "NEWS" channels ... so there is some hope for those who want to get informative, concise and unbiased news

Another good example of how a channel should be is "Loksabha" ... i dont know if it is categorised as a news channel ... Initially when it was launched ... i was doubtful about the nature of their programmes being naturally favouring the political party in power! But it has came across as a refreshing surprise .... with its neutral content ... it has so far tried to give a true and unbiased picture ... it has also brought to the fore lot of social issues ... which could have never been expected from other "masala" news channels!

I think "Journalism" is a very important and noble profession ...especially in a democracy like ours ... where we need people to be informed and aware of the problems and issues around them

we want news that give us the real picture and not the distorted ones!

I would like to end with the hope that the viewers with the remote in hand, is sensible enough to discern between what is news and what is entertainment and what is it that he's looking for!

Latest BREAKING NEWS : India post a target of 196 for SriLanka to chase!! :)