September 4, 2009

Back-breaking news






Y.S.R's tragic demise has shocked the whole country. After more than 24hrs of nail-biting tension, the news finally emerged - his chopper had crashed into a cliff and burst into flames. All five on onboard including YSR,the principal secretary,security officer and the two pilots perished in the accident.


The news channels had a field day. Slideshows,file photos and discussions- they left no stone unturned and gave coverage so exhaustive it actually became boring. They cycled the same file footage and photos over and over and the unrehearsed voiceovers were only making things worse. Star news showed an animation of how the helicopter crashed.I couldn't help but laugh. We've seen better graphics in 1920s. One reporter loved to use "infact" in almost every line. The other tried adding "indeed" everywhere. Howewer, not showing footage of the wreckage or the bodies was a move worth appreciation(although most channels made it to the site)

Newspapers realising how unimportant they've become hit back by publishing grisly photos of the accident. A prominent urdu paper showed a picture of a badly mutilated body among the wreckage- possibly the pilot. Very bad considering not many people can bear the site of a dead body. And on the fornt page at that. In full color.
Indian reporters attracted flak for their flawed approach during the 26/11 attacks. They were giving away army locations to the terrorists unknowingly. The TV cable to the Hotels had to be cut as the reporters just wouldn't shut up.We have numerous telugu news channels that air graphic images and videos with no system in place to deal with censorship and ethical issues.

New news channels are cropping up by the day. N Tv,I TV,yeh TV,woh TV... It's not the number that counts.It's the quality.


Chain sey sona hai toh TV bandh kijiye

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