NEWS: Nasty Exaggerated Wild Stories

“Appa, my favourite cartoon….” SWAP. “Good evening. The headlines…”
I hated her voice. I hated her face. I hated her. I hated NEWS.

Appa never offered explanations. I ran into the kitchen pouting. Amma saw me coming from the corner of her eye and knew what happened. (Moms always know). “I hate her!” I cried. “Why does she always come when I want to see cartoon.

“And she doesn’t even know anything. She blindly reads in the same tone. There’s nothing interesting in the stupid news!!” That day amma explained patiently that news was not supposed to be interesting or ‘juicy’. It was informative and mostly serious. It was a medium for the world to know ‘Wots goin on…’

Times have changed. This means what was just half an hour’s torture has extended to 24 * 7 thanks to these NEWS channels as they call themselves proudly.

News is an exchange of information… But are we mere machines to pass on information blindly? Shouldn’t we give a thought as to whether the audience really needs the information?

What happened at the fashion week was something personal. Wasn’t it embarrassing enough that it happened to those poor girls once in such a huge event, in front of such a large audience for the media to bring it out? Was there a need for a common man to even know such a thing happened?

For a moment think of it this way… What would a sensitive person do if a woman’s top falls off? Rush to her and offer her his coat, clothe her? Why did none sitting there feel like doing that? You may say I watch a lot of hindi movies & that I am not being practical enough but what is the point in buying all those designer outfits and storing them in your cupboard if you can’t cover a lady in serious trouble. How could they manage to sit still & witness it? Was the decorum of the show more important? Didn’t anyone thinking of turning the lights off? Instead, the media took the opportunity to shoot that miserable incident on their camera…

Every, mind you, every news channel has the scene running at least 50 times a day & I can’t differentiate between the last 7 days newspapers as each has the same front-page picture. Some say it was deliberately done. Some say they appreciate the attitude of the models. Filthy hypocrites I call them!

Are these girls just moving mannequins? Where has sensitivity gone? Why have feelings, emotions, relationships been sabotaged by all this glamour? Why has news been replaced by hot stories and juicy gossip? My logic says if these channels dedicate 24 hours to news, they can cover what’s happening in each remote corner of the world. That’s the power of the media. But what really happens is a joke. And people are really laughing at others expense