One of the most iconic actors of Bollywood, Sridevi passed away recently. Initial reports stated that the cause of her demise was cardiac arrest but later it was said that she died due to accidental drowning. This extremely unfortunate incident yet again unmasked the apathy of broadcasters in India. Most, if not all channels made a mockery of her death by inviting panels for debates and putting ugly graphics of the bathroom where the revered actor breathed her last.
Many people reacted to this saying journalism drowned with the kind of coverage TV channels did but it seems these people have woken up from a slumber because, in reality, broadcast journalism is so dead in India, one would even fail to find its remains.
Creating content for the sake of grabbing eyeballs, sensationalizing news and even going to the extent of broadcasting false news— you name it and the folks at TV have done it all! Remember when India TV broadcasted ‘Swarga ki seedhiyan?’ It is debatable (for those who believe them) whether such a staircase exists but they undoubtedly pushed journalism down the staircase of credibility many years ago.
The obsession of broadcast media with Taimur Ali Khan is yet another example of how it has been creating news out of non-issues recently. In a country where there are pressing issues such as unemployment, crumbling public health sector and farmers’ suicide, it is saddening to see that a top channel covers whether or not Taimur is banned from the sets of “Veere Di Wedding”. The coverage is not only limited to Taimur, our media also somehow has the impression that giving people insight into what the chief minister of a state had for lunch is also significant.
Talking about fake news and sensationalism, how can one forget the godfather of fake news —Sudhir Chaudhary! Remember the time when the chap at work/building wale uncle/kaam wali bai told you (with head held high) how the Rs.2000 bill has a chip in it? They said that because Sudhir told them so and as much as you would want to blame them, in a country where people believe Nirmal baba when he says ‘kripa barsegi’ by telling you to change the color of your tie, trusting the face of one of the oldest TV news channels of India isn’t that big a crime.