TOPIC 1: MEDIA IN INDIA - (sub topic 1.1 - Prince in pit)
- --- we see what it shows us, we hear what is speaks to us - we form our beliefs. Murders, rapes, blasts, accidents are nothing new - some are talked about for a few days - only if the media thinks they're juicy enough. The media has a big responsibility - T.V. channels, newspapers or magazines - whatever they say is addressed to millions. Are there no ethics in the face of competition and the race for T.R.P.s and subscriptions?
[ME - Who am I? - I believe it's very important for a posting to have a label - who's saying it- with what authority? I'm Lohit Gupta. I'm a 20-year-old Engineering Student studying in Bangalore. For the past 5 months, I've been at home, having to return to Jamshedpur after some 'health' issues. No, I'm not a psycho - not yet. As I was saying, all I've been doing at home is eating and watching T.V. Since there are some 15-20 news channels on my T.V., I really haven't been able to ignore them - 1 cheap news story - is magnified 15 times, repeated as many times - maybe the competition's a reason for the degradation of journalism - they're so desperate for recognition! I spend from 2-3 hours a day to 5-6 hours on print media and from 8-10 hours a day to none with my eyes struggling to keep pace with my channel zapping fingers which can't wait to switch to the next one.
Look, what I mean is, it's not enough to say - f**k the media - they can make a story out of anything, they're so da*n insensitive - journalists are people too - many of them our brothers and sisters, friends - they can't all be bad. So, what's wrong with the system? Where does the problem lie? What is the solution?]
TOPIC 1.1 - 5 year old trapped in a 60 feet Boring hole...
Well, not exactly the birthday gift Prince was looking for. It's been close to 48 hours now. Poor kid's been trapped inside a hole.
Close-circuit camera, Army rescue operations, distressed family members, all the leading news channels, prayers (apparently) from all over the nation - some channels claim to have made it international...
By the way - f**k ZEE NEWS - I'll quote (roughly) one of their earnest reporters - "To the right of where I'm standing, you can see that the army is engaged into a war - a 'Mahabharata' - to save the naive 5 year old 'Prince' - who's been in the 60 feet hole for 48 hours now ]Aaj Tak has a timer running[. The entire nation joins us in praying for him - your SMSes and E-Mails are reaching us every second."
My answer - up yours.
If it was not enough that the poor kid's down there, he has scores of useless, hungry media persons crowding around him - to add to his family's misery - wonder how long it is before they start asking them those questions - "How r u feeling now?" - "Did you ever think that he would come out?" - "
How many of these people have actually helped Prince? Other than adding to his misery and creating a commotion, gathering a crowd of curious onlookers (who, by the way, I don't blame at all), creating a problem for the police, have done nothing for the kid.
As for me, I know this - if I could've been near enough to help the kid, I would have been digging by now - or waiting in a corner to see if I could help the army men. As for praying for him - I don't even know him - how genuine can my prayer be? Not to sound inhuman but is he the first kid to have fallen down a hole? How many kids die in India every day - drowned, burnt or sacrificed - how many turn up on the T.V.? Just because they put up a close-circuit camera there - I have to watch a naked child stuck in a hole hour after hour? Aren't there other important stories? Have we forgotten the Mumbai Blast victims already?
As for ZEE NEWS, when they're not busy patting their thick-skinned backs for (as they claim) being the first on to the scene, they proudly repeat their announcement of a scholarship for Prince - why? Just because an entire nation watched him stuck in a hole for more than a day?
And what do people achieve with those stupid text messages to the media whose going to forget this 'Prince' before the month is over?
And if you're wondering why I'm so pissed off with the media - I like to keep myself updated with the news - and all that they've been showing since yesterday is the repeated footage of a naked kid in a hole, trying to tackle an insect, munching on a chocolate, taking a bite off a biscuit - I don't know this kid - I can't help him - I don't even know where Kurukshetra is. I'm tired of my fussy boycott of the day's news. Isn't there anything else happening in this world I live in? Whatever happened to ethical journalism? Do they have to make a story out of everything? Well, I'm not watching it - at least I'm trying not to. However, most of the nation seems to be watching it.
UPDATE - 8:37 PM 7/23/06. It's been a few minutes - they've finally got the kid out - after some 50 hours - hats off to the kid - hats off to the army and the other forces that performed the rescue operation - the kid's a celeb - at least for some time - wonder when people will start flocking to him for his blessings...
ZEE NEWS seems to have gone berserk - the presenter, some guy called 'Kiran Ajoria' - or something like that - is breathless as he repeats for the millionth time, 'Zee Nes ki muhim rang laayi' - Dharti-Putra Prince ka Punarjam' - uske Janamdin par - 'Zee News ki muhim...'
My mom's upset she missed the climax - when the boy was finally pulled out - we happened to be in the deserted market, buying a few vegetables and stuff. Sunday never saw the streets so empty. Thank ZEE NEWS for that. Even in the temple, I couldn't helping requesting the priest to pray for Prince on my behalf - I felt compelled to do so - the priests were happy with the offerings that had already come in - they were preparing themselves in anticipation for some more as people finally left their homes - we had already heard the buzz in the market - people were rejoicing. I was happy too - for the kid and also that I'd finally get to watch some real news.
Talking about focus – who left such a deep hole open there (apparently covered by a sack)? Let there be some punishment too.
There's another reason why I'm so miffed - I want to be a journalist some day... Now that I've seen all this, I feel compelled to turn my dream into reality - somebody's got to make a difference.
So, in a nutshell, I'm trying to sow the seeds of rebellion. Next time you see a T.V. crew busting into your home, your misery, slap them in the face, break their cameras and tell them to f**k off - if they can't help you, they'd better not reduce you to a story - one which, for all you know, millions may piss on eventually, after some journalist comes up with his own spiced-up version of your misery. It seems one can't even die in peace now.
There must be some POSITIVES to this nationwide broadcast - I've heard help's been sought from Holland - The Prime Minister's taken a personal interest in the matter - many viewers have offered solutions... However, I still can't figure out those 'Happy Birthday, Prince - don't worry, we are with you' messages - he doesn't need you - all he needs is to get out of that hole and get into his mother's lap. Leave him alone if you can't help him.
I repeat, I'm no saint. I've got my shortcoming too. However, at the unstoppable age of 20, I need some answers.
Help me.
- --- we see what it shows us, we hear what is speaks to us - we form our beliefs. Murders, rapes, blasts, accidents are nothing new - some are talked about for a few days - only if the media thinks they're juicy enough. The media has a big responsibility - T.V. channels, newspapers or magazines - whatever they say is addressed to millions. Are there no ethics in the face of competition and the race for T.R.P.s and subscriptions?
[ME - Who am I? - I believe it's very important for a posting to have a label - who's saying it- with what authority? I'm Lohit Gupta. I'm a 20-year-old Engineering Student studying in Bangalore. For the past 5 months, I've been at home, having to return to Jamshedpur after some 'health' issues. No, I'm not a psycho - not yet. As I was saying, all I've been doing at home is eating and watching T.V. Since there are some 15-20 news channels on my T.V., I really haven't been able to ignore them - 1 cheap news story - is magnified 15 times, repeated as many times - maybe the competition's a reason for the degradation of journalism - they're so desperate for recognition! I spend from 2-3 hours a day to 5-6 hours on print media and from 8-10 hours a day to none with my eyes struggling to keep pace with my channel zapping fingers which can't wait to switch to the next one.
Look, what I mean is, it's not enough to say - f**k the media - they can make a story out of anything, they're so da*n insensitive - journalists are people too - many of them our brothers and sisters, friends - they can't all be bad. So, what's wrong with the system? Where does the problem lie? What is the solution?]
TOPIC 1.1 - 5 year old trapped in a 60 feet Boring hole...
Well, not exactly the birthday gift Prince was looking for. It's been close to 48 hours now. Poor kid's been trapped inside a hole.
Close-circuit camera, Army rescue operations, distressed family members, all the leading news channels, prayers (apparently) from all over the nation - some channels claim to have made it international...
By the way - f**k ZEE NEWS - I'll quote (roughly) one of their earnest reporters - "To the right of where I'm standing, you can see that the army is engaged into a war - a 'Mahabharata' - to save the naive 5 year old 'Prince' - who's been in the 60 feet hole for 48 hours now ]Aaj Tak has a timer running[. The entire nation joins us in praying for him - your SMSes and E-Mails are reaching us every second."
My answer - up yours.
If it was not enough that the poor kid's down there, he has scores of useless, hungry media persons crowding around him - to add to his family's misery - wonder how long it is before they start asking them those questions - "How r u feeling now?" - "Did you ever think that he would come out?" - "
How many of these people have actually helped Prince? Other than adding to his misery and creating a commotion, gathering a crowd of curious onlookers (who, by the way, I don't blame at all), creating a problem for the police, have done nothing for the kid.
As for me, I know this - if I could've been near enough to help the kid, I would have been digging by now - or waiting in a corner to see if I could help the army men. As for praying for him - I don't even know him - how genuine can my prayer be? Not to sound inhuman but is he the first kid to have fallen down a hole? How many kids die in India every day - drowned, burnt or sacrificed - how many turn up on the T.V.? Just because they put up a close-circuit camera there - I have to watch a naked child stuck in a hole hour after hour? Aren't there other important stories? Have we forgotten the Mumbai Blast victims already?
As for ZEE NEWS, when they're not busy patting their thick-skinned backs for (as they claim) being the first on to the scene, they proudly repeat their announcement of a scholarship for Prince - why? Just because an entire nation watched him stuck in a hole for more than a day?
And what do people achieve with those stupid text messages to the media whose going to forget this 'Prince' before the month is over?
And if you're wondering why I'm so pissed off with the media - I like to keep myself updated with the news - and all that they've been showing since yesterday is the repeated footage of a naked kid in a hole, trying to tackle an insect, munching on a chocolate, taking a bite off a biscuit - I don't know this kid - I can't help him - I don't even know where Kurukshetra is. I'm tired of my fussy boycott of the day's news. Isn't there anything else happening in this world I live in? Whatever happened to ethical journalism? Do they have to make a story out of everything? Well, I'm not watching it - at least I'm trying not to. However, most of the nation seems to be watching it.
UPDATE - 8:37 PM 7/23/06. It's been a few minutes - they've finally got the kid out - after some 50 hours - hats off to the kid - hats off to the army and the other forces that performed the rescue operation - the kid's a celeb - at least for some time - wonder when people will start flocking to him for his blessings...
ZEE NEWS seems to have gone berserk - the presenter, some guy called 'Kiran Ajoria' - or something like that - is breathless as he repeats for the millionth time, 'Zee Nes ki muhim rang laayi' - Dharti-Putra Prince ka Punarjam' - uske Janamdin par - 'Zee News ki muhim...'
My mom's upset she missed the climax - when the boy was finally pulled out - we happened to be in the deserted market, buying a few vegetables and stuff. Sunday never saw the streets so empty. Thank ZEE NEWS for that. Even in the temple, I couldn't helping requesting the priest to pray for Prince on my behalf - I felt compelled to do so - the priests were happy with the offerings that had already come in - they were preparing themselves in anticipation for some more as people finally left their homes - we had already heard the buzz in the market - people were rejoicing. I was happy too - for the kid and also that I'd finally get to watch some real news.
Talking about focus – who left such a deep hole open there (apparently covered by a sack)? Let there be some punishment too.
There's another reason why I'm so miffed - I want to be a journalist some day... Now that I've seen all this, I feel compelled to turn my dream into reality - somebody's got to make a difference.
So, in a nutshell, I'm trying to sow the seeds of rebellion. Next time you see a T.V. crew busting into your home, your misery, slap them in the face, break their cameras and tell them to f**k off - if they can't help you, they'd better not reduce you to a story - one which, for all you know, millions may piss on eventually, after some journalist comes up with his own spiced-up version of your misery. It seems one can't even die in peace now.
There must be some POSITIVES to this nationwide broadcast - I've heard help's been sought from Holland - The Prime Minister's taken a personal interest in the matter - many viewers have offered solutions... However, I still can't figure out those 'Happy Birthday, Prince - don't worry, we are with you' messages - he doesn't need you - all he needs is to get out of that hole and get into his mother's lap. Leave him alone if you can't help him.
I repeat, I'm no saint. I've got my shortcoming too. However, at the unstoppable age of 20, I need some answers.
Help me.
Comments