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Once upon a time
it used to be said that news is what someone somewhere wants to
hide. The rest, the saying ran, was simply advertisement. News is
no longer reportage of facts and presentation of information in
as unbiased a manner as possible. News has today come to mean much
more. It is no longer a mission, it is commerce. It has become the
business of spin doctors, views engineers, opinion accountants,
thought controllers and image marketers. Journalists also play a
role, usually a subservient one. Like a section of the print medium,
television news in India has come to symbolise instant gratification.
Attempts are frequently made to distil the wisdom of the universe
in a 20-second sound-byte and to encapsulate centuries-old knowledge
in a half-hour talk show.
All
the clichés about television have come true with a vengeance, certainly
in this country. More often than not, it is chewing gum for the
mind, opium for the masses and cocaine for the classes. Like the
tabloid press featuring beauties and cuties on page 3, much of television
news is all about dumbing down and about insulting the intelligence
of viewers by immature anchors who do not know when to laugh and
when not to.
As
far as television in India is concerned, it has never rained; it
has always poured. Just a little over a decade ago, only one television
channel used to purvey news and current affairs - that is, the staid
old Doordarshan, the propaganda division of the politicians and
bureaucrats in power. At present, we have a problem of plenty. There
are more than half-a-dozen news-oriented channels in Hindi - including
Aaj Tak, Star News, Zee News, NDTV India, Sahara Samay and ETV.
In addition, there are three English news channels - NDTV 24x7,
CNBC-TV18 and Headlines Today - not to mention channels in all other
major languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi,
Gujarati, Bangla, Oriya and Urdu. There is no country in the world
with the number of news channels that India has at present. But,
as we all know so well, quantity is no substitute of quality. Many
television channels provide shoddy, sloppy, slanted and repetitive
content.
Fifteen
years ago, everybody and his brother thought Ted Turner was a fool
because he believed a 24-hour news channel could be commercially
viable. One Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and a Gulf War
in January 1991 changed the fortunes of CNN forever. Turner laughed
all the way to the bank and back for the next few years. Television
news had never been such a "saleable" commodity before. As images
of savagery were telecast live inside people's homes, remember what
happened in India: five-star hotels placed large advertisements
in newspapers urging potential customers to watch the war live and
sip a cup of coffee for Rs 50, please!
Few
realized that the demand for television news in India would grow
at the exponential rate it did in the first few years of the new
millennium. To an extent, supply created its own demand. Since one
did not have that many channels to view, one never missed them.
Many viewers today don't know which channel to watch. Or if they
are news-junkies, they surf and try and watch all the channels.
Contrary to what the publicity machines of channels would want us
to believe, few viewers are concerned about which was the channel
which broke the news first. Most are far more concerned about the
quality of information provided, the depth of analysis and the extent
to which background and perspective is provided to today's hot news.
This
correspondent is rather sceptical about the television rating points
(TRPs) and television audience measurement (TAM) figures that are
put out to justify claims made by one channel or the other. The
reason is simple - there are just not that many "people meters"
around for a researcher to extrapolate a suitable sample to gauge
viewers' choices. Do not forget that there are over 80 million television-owning
homes in the country, more than half of whom have cable and satellite
connections. And even if one or the other channel claims it has
grabbed more eyeballs, remember popularity does not necessarily
equal quality. Hence, what follows is a completely subjective account
of what I - repeat I - like or hate. If I offend a few friends in
these channels, hopefully they would condescend to take me out to
lunch and dinner.
Aaj
Tak - There has been considerable improvement in the quality
and depth of coverage of the channel. Unfortunately, it licks the
government's backside too much and too often. Prabhu Chawla, my
ex-boss, smiles too much and interrupts too often. Gone are its
monopolistic days and it will have to cope with the dogs of competition
constantly yapping at its heels.
Zee
News - It lost its first-mover advantage on account of sheer
complacency. Having got its act together of late, the channel has
improved its look, feel and coverage considerably. The problem is
that once you lose your pre-eminent position, it's not easy to scratch
and crawl your way back. Despite Subhash Chandra's flirtations with
the political powers-that-be, the channel does try and toe an independent
editorial line.
NDTV
India - The channel is yet to make its mark in a crowded marketplace.
The credibility of its English sibling rubs off occasionally on
the channel but it has some distance to cover in terms of featuring
exclusive stories - which is, of course, easier said than done.
Star
News - Realisation has dawned on this channel's bosses that
whereas packaging matters, it can never be a substitute for quality
content, that attractive anchors are no match for those with journalistic
depth. It is giving both Aaj Tak and Zee News a good run for their
money. Right now, of course, it is too preoccupied fighting a different
set of battles.
Sahara
Samay - I must confess I have not watched the channel very attentively.
Reason: my cable guy at Gurgaon does not provide it. The little
of the channel I have watched on my office television appears reasonably
good, if a trifle dull. All those I have met who have watched the
channel have been pleasantly surprised by its quality - their expectations
were perhaps low. Clearly, it has considerable potential in the
Hindi heartland.
Doordarshan
- One awaits the new version of the old news channel. DD has access
to stupendous resources (maintained badly) and still has a lot of
potential but continues to seriously suffer from a credibility problem
- that is, no criticism of those in power. It has all the problems
a bureaucratic organization has: too many spineless people who are
not accountable and whose position depends not on their skills but
solely on their ability to bend over backwards to ingratiate themselves
before their political masters. What about the autonomy of Prasar
Bharati? What autonomy? You must be joking. Recall what happened
to SY Quaraishi.
CNBC-TV18
- The only 24-hour business channel in the country is still trying
to spread its wings and widen its horizon from its very focussed
coverage of shocks and snares (sorry, stocks and shares). I am biased
since for nearly six years, I was a full-time idiot on the idiot
box for this particular channel.
NDTV
24x7 - My favourite news channels for its journalistic credibility
and editorial independence, although I wish Rajdeep Sardesai and
Barkha Dutt would not regurgitate their favourite topics of discussion
so frequently. I don't watch the "Night Out" programme if I can
help it; instead I try and sleep.
Headlines
Today - I was told that there exists this mythical young urban
professional who is always terribly rushed for time, who has a low
attention span and who wants all the news he can use packaged neatly
in 20-minutes flat. His real name is, of course, Jhujhar Singh and
I love him dearly. When I teach my students what it takes to be
a television anchor, I tell them to watch him - that way they know
what not to do.
 (The
author is Director, School of Convergence, International Management
Institute, New Delhi and a journalist with over 25 years of experience
in various media - print, Internet, radio and television. He can
be contacted at paranjoy@yahoo.com.)
(The
views expressed here are those of the author and indiantelevision.com
need not necessarily subscribe to the same).
Also
Read:
News
channels - a reality check
Have
private producers of current affairs programming lost out?
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