Feline Musings

The first news headline that I read this morning was on www.dnaindia.com, reporting matter-of-factly, “Niketa Mehta has Miscarriage.” The news report categorically says that the Mehta’s hold media attention responsible for the expectant mother’s high stress level, and subsequent medical consequences - “It was a natural death for our child,” said Haresh, blaming the intense media attention for his wife’s high blood pressure and increased stress level that led to the miscarriage.” DNA hardly gets the point, when on scrolling through the news item, I come across this passage - “DNA was the first to report (on July 25) that the couple from Bhayander wanted to abort the foetus after it was diagnosed with congenital complete heart block in the 24th week of pregnancy.” Its ironical, it’s shameful, it’s inhumane to make news on some one’s sorrow.

I had refrained from commenting on the Arushi Talwar murder case that was splattered all over the media, and had created an obsession in the common masses to keep apace to every single movement in the case. But, I am still reminded of the case, because I have been wondering at the cold-heartedness of the media that lost all interest in the case, after Dr Talwar was released. You see, the case didn’t hold any more “masala-value” - there was no “devil-in-disguise-of-father” story and neither was it an honor killing. For all practical purposes it is a “Household helps/servants strike again” story which is pretty commonplace in the eyes of the media. The “ab-tak-ki-sabse-barhi-murder-mystery” video tapes are gathering dust in media-houses.

On my birthday, on the 8th of August, I woke up to birthday wishes from the family and also with a note of concern that the media has been splashing the news since last evening that the day is inauspicious. Our curiosity piqued, we did rush to catch the news, and all news channels vied with each other to calculate and claim that 08.08.08 would be a day of calamity and catastrophe.

Hubby and I had planned a day-out, even a weekend getaway, but we were actually taken aback by the constant news of dread. IBN Live promised to debate on and show how the numbers had and would affect us negatively. By afternoon India TV came up with another program that dismissed the claims of the other news channels that 08.08.08 was a day of destruction and Lord Saturn’s Day of Judgment. They were more prepared to accept the Chinese view that the day was auspicious. Overburdened with so much information, I could only mutter under my breath that I should thank my stars that the channels have not ostracized people born on August 8, and are not labeling them as inauspicious.

While the media, questions the presence of aliens, and the myriad love affairs of movie stars and cricketers, and replays scenes from comedy serials/laughter challenges/quiz shows, debates on the best dressed, and the worst behaved, and discusses and analyses the endless saas-bahu sagas on television, I wonder where all the good men and women (read journalists) and the good half-hour long news bulletins have gone! I enjoyed the intelligent debate on the Trust Vote in Parliament, when the sophisticated veterans of Indian journalism - Pranav Roy, Vikram Chandra, Vinod Dua, Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Datt - were guiding logical and well-informed discussion.

I wish there was just one news channel like the good old days of Doordarshan, and the half-hour news bulletins, telecast thrice day, that would give lesser time and space to the new media to distort, manipulate, inflate facts and provoke hysterical public reaction and attention. I believe that the undue media attention has been provoking more and more people to take to the streets, be it the Gujjar violence, the demonstrations against Dera Sacha Sauda, yesterday’s nationwide bandh on the Amarnath issue, or even the relentless series of bomb-blasts and threat emails. We are paying the price of overt media interference in every nook and corner of public, political, personal and social life.

From responsible media to tabloid journalism, we are bearing the brunt of irrelevant information overload and slowly buckling under the unseen, undue stress of over-exaggerated and inflated news. We are in a stage where “more means less” - more media channels, and more media attention means lesser quality, and poorer issue resolution!

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