The broadcast media is less about news and more about TRPs. This is definitely not what was expected of the fourth pillar. It can justify survival but can it leave a legacy?
I remember television news used to be very different. I recall it to be a source of trusted information and the news anchors, who pioneered and brought the news to our homes, used to be respected, well-read and thoughtful individuals. This might seem unimaginable and incomprehensible to young readers today because television news now appears to be unrecognisable as being the fourth pillar of democracy it was decades ago.
News media has undergone dramatic changes from those rose-tinted days when the news was not a 24×7 business but a way to keep citizens informed about what was going on in their country and across the world. The advent of cable news, pioneered by news organisations in the United States (US) like CNN, changed all that and made news channels a 24×7 source of content but essentially with the same amount of information. CNN dealt with this situation by no longer limiting itself to the news at all.
As reported in The Economist, CNN has filled its channels with original films and television series that are either licensed by it or produced in-house. It has found major success by adopting this approach. For example, when it got on board the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain to travel to exotic places in a show titled Parts Unknown, it helped the channel attract close to eight million new viewers. Therefore, news channels now are less about the news and more about the views.
Television news today can battle any soap opera for TRPs. If you want to see how thin the line between a soap opera and a news channel is, just look at the manner in which the death of an actor,
Sushant Singh Rajput, has been dealt with by news channels with his alleged girlfriend, Rhea Chakraborty, at the centre of the media trial.
Just to give you an idea of what counts as news nowadays, one national media channel ran a programme titled Sushant par Rhea ka kaala jaadu (Sushant was a victim of Rhea’s black magic) with a heavy dose of graphic images and an alarming lack of intelligence. When news channels show content like this, they not only speak about the story but inevitably (and, perhaps, intentionally) become the story themselves.
The coverage by certain segments of the “news” media during this entire episode has been misogynistic, hateful and frankly speaking, a source of embarrassment for a country that calls itself the largest democracy in the world. We must not forget that one of the basic tenets of progressive democracy and a fair legal system is that anyone accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
It is a principle that these “news” channels are well aware of, as evident by the fact that they keep this in mind when speaking about Pragya Thakur, a 2008 Malegaon bomb blast accused and current Member of Parliament but forget about it when it comes to the death of an actor.
This farcical media trial has truly revealed the rot that has set in deep in the field of journalism. News anchors and organisations that produce and broadcast this type of news need to think long and hard about the pressures and impact of such incessant media coverage. It has the potential to lead to cases of depression and, possibly, even suicides.
I pray that we never see such an outcome but what if such an unfortunate situation does arise? Will these news channels cover each other and examine any possibility of black magic being responsible or hold the mirror to themselves?
The field of journalism, however, is not merely under threat due to the rot within from actors in its own fraternity but more dangerously so and in a much more tangible sense from the outside.
A study that examined attacks on journalists found that there have been nearly 40 killings of journalists since 2014 with 21 of the deaths being directly linked to their professional work. What is all the more discouraging is that only three convictions have taken place since 2010.
As per reports, these attacks were allegedly committed by members of political parties, religious sects, student groups and criminal gangs. Just this past week, we heard the sad news of a journalist being shot dead in Uttar Pradesh. However, this story has received nowhere close to the attention that has been given to this media trial.
We have not seen news organisations or news anchors raise this issue or use its resources to bring attention to this serious threat to our democracy. Instead of protecting their own community, that has been the unfortunate victim of violent crimes and pressures, some television anchors have used their influence and the platform to focus their stories on the influence of black magic in an ongoing investigation. This is the true tragedy of television news.
I often hear that news channels are in a race for TRPs and need to do whatever they can to get attention as it is a question of survival. While this is an explanation, it is far from an acceptable one. Justifying the action of news anchors, by saying that news channels can only survive the new reality of 24×7 reporting by compromising all journalistic integrity, is no different from defending corrupt bureaucrats or politicians who say that they can only survive in their field by taking bribes and junking their integrity.
They are all drinking from the same well. In fact, when I was speaking to my son, who is a lawyer, about the sad state of affairs of television news, he exclaimed that it’s not all bad because these “journalists” have added a layer of respectability to the lawyers. In the end, however, any real change can only come from the actors on the screen themselves.
History is the only real judge and when this period is looked back at by future generations, anchors, who had the opportunity to mould generations, will either be classified as Edward R Murrows or risk being called spokespersons of a format that can only be said to be inspired from Radio Rwanda.
