NEWS CHANNELS - A NUISANCE???

Hey people this article is written by one of my friends.I'd invited the person concerned to post the article but the person chooses to be anonymous so m posting instead.Really good article.Do read it.

Gone is the age when the media restricted themselves to only reporting the daily events. Now, it is all about the implementation of the Right to Information Act....... in order to increase the public awareness....... but the question is – IS THE MEDIA USING THEIR RIGHTS TO CREATE AN AWARENESS?? Or has it converted to a just another money making business.... that isn't concerned with the truth or with justice anymore??? The media has launched their own bureau of investigations against crimes.... and the end result in most cases is that the accused is convicted even before the trial begins!

There have been cases where the intervention by the media has been a boon. Where the pure determination of the reporters to expose the truth helped to bring the victims to justice... The Jessica Lal murder case is one of those rare instances. And hands down to those journalists who helped to bring about these drastic change of events... but these incidents are outnumbered by cases in which the outcome has not only harmed the public but also the Indian Judiciary System.

How can the court give a fair hearing to an accused whose sentence has already been awarded? Not only does the judge's decision get biased, but the humiliation inflicted is unimaginable. Every person has the right to a fair hearing..... and unless convicted by the court, no individual is termed as CRIMINAL. The Aarushi murder case is a classic example....

The hype caused by the media diverted the minds of the public and the inefficiency of the police maybe due to the same. The mere idea of judging a 13 yr old deceased girl's character is revolting! But the media, not only broadcasted the statement of the police but also went hand in hand to spin theories about how the girl's character is at fault! When this incident was condemned by the Supreme Court, there wasn't a single channel that failed to broadcast the condemnation. But neither was there anyone to claim responsibility to the same or for that matter apologise to the grieving family!

If the Right to Information Act was implemented in the appropriate manner then perhaps the Nulclear Deal, which is so much talked about and debated, will become unambiguous to the public. How many of us know about the INDO-US Nuclear Deal??? Everyone must have heard about it... but how many know more than the fact that it is a Nuclear Deal between India and USA???

Maybe instead of reporting Deepika Padukone's new tattoo, the media will report more pressing matters! If only... Rakhi Sawant slapping her boyfriend on Valentine's day would help solve the nation's problems.. then perhaps there would be some point in repeating the same telecast over and over again!!!

Slumdog Millionaire and India

Slumdog Millionaire.The movie which won 8 oscars.It bombed in india.Surprising?
Not really.I'm not among those who's going to question the movie.Rather,i have a few questions about the indian attitude towards the movie.

The movie didn't work with the masses.The language barrier could have been one reason.But even though there was a dubbing it still didn't work.The masses know exactly what danny boyle was trying to portray.They didn't want to see it.Simply because they'r all probably going through similar lives.The people want to see large palaces,people flying private airplanes and actresses dancing in semi-nude clothes in movies like K3G.So that,atleast temporarily, they can get out of their misery.Their reason,i would say,is justified.

What i fail to understand is the attitude of the middle class and the elite.There was widespread criticism from people like Arindham Chaudhury,Priyadarshan and many more.They claimed that the westerners get a sort of sadistic pleasure out of watching poor India.And they claimed that India is not like that anymore after the economic progress we are making in this century.I can't comment on the first part.But the latter is definitely not true.The real India is far from making progress.Everyone knows where India stands on the scale of Human Development Index.Our very own Arvind Adiga has shown us the stark reality of India in his book "The White Tiger'.The difference was that he was hailed (after all he won the booker's prize!).And he was labelled among those making India proud .So then why are we getting so hypocritical when an outsider(Danny Boyle) tells the "Indian story".Why does it pinch us so much.The reason is because deep down we all know that its the truth.The real India is not Marine Drive or Gurgaon.It's Dharavi.The real India is DEV KULI (Bihar),a village which belongs to a community of outcastes who,uptil 1 year ago,used to dine on rats!

Delhi is a great example.On one side you see a mall in every nook and corner,the development of the metro and roads which would look as good as any in the world.But if you watch Delhi from the trains when they approach Hazrat Nizhamuddin you know exactly what reality is.Old Delhi looks like a totally different planet.Behaving like poverty does not exist will not change the facts.700 million people in India still live on half a dollar per day.
And we see advertisements of "India Shining".The upper class and the politicians are less offended about the abject poverty that exists in India than being offended about the fact that an outsider has made a sinciere attempt(maybe not the best ever but atleast sinciere!) to tell the true story.How long are we going to turn the eye?