So there was a lot of misappropriation of money for CWG, the facilities are not world class, nothing is ready when the games are a fortnight away. Need to be thankful to the media for making me aware of these facts. But really can we move on? Every time I switch the TV on, all the major channels are highlighting the sorry conditions of the CWG venue, with the images of everything that went wrong. My point is, things went wrong, it’s totally unacceptable but why do we need to replay the facts over and over again? One of the leading news channels had a very eye-catching one-liner “India shamed again”, shown on an Indian network as if it’s a matter to be proud of. Then there was this list of western nations that pulled out for various reasons, somehow I feel the media wants the CWG to be a huge failure.
What amazes me is the callous attitude of the media; they have done their job of highlighting our unpreparedness, but now what’s the benefit of replaying it? I don’t say that let the culprits free, anyway considering the Indian law situation, the culprits behind this are going to go scot-free by playing the right cards or maybe the case would run till next time CWG comes to India and then the media will remember that there was a certain Mr. K who had wronged the nation and then they’ll replay the same images we see every day now. Then the time would be right, not now!
Just few days back, Mr.Subrato Roy of Sahara made an emotional appeal in all newspapers, asking public to support the sponsors and asking the media to stop. But who listens? The point he raised is totally logical, why are we concentrating on things that went wrong, instead of rectifying the situation? From when did “India shamed yet again” become a thing to be advertised? In the battle of the TRPs why is national image taking a back seat? The media would I guess gain more respect if it now started concentrating on the steps being taken to salvage the situation without being sarcastic, instead of showing worthless interviews of useless Gora’s who have boycotted the games citing hygiene, safety concerns. Frankly, we don’t need terrorists to come and harm us, the media is enough.
I very much want an answer from everyone who has wasted my Taxpayers money, but that can wait, right now I want the CWG to be a success as much as the FIFA world cup was in another not-so-developed-country-by-western-standards.
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Another story that caught my eye was on another leading news channel, Mind you, when I say leading news channel, I mean the so-called leading English news channels. I had already given up on the Hindi news after the “Big B ne haath hilaaya” news when Mr. Bacchan was operated upon. So this leading news channel was going to show an exclusive movie on the Ayodhya issue, the real-story of Ayodhya, specially made for the 24th decision on the issue. My question is, why now? On one hand, the police are all geared up for maintaining communal harmony, the PM issues an appeal to be unbiased, and the media fuels it by pulling out the old videos. I would like to know the real story behind it, but is it necessary to time it now when it can fuel up the minds of some un-employed youths?
It’s not the first time that the media is acting irresponsibly; we have had recent experiences of Mumbai Taj attacks and the coverage of Kargil war, when they in their efforts to lead the TRPs played with the safety of innocents. It’s high time; they woke up and realize that News channels are meant to give an unbiased coverage of happenings around the world. Their purpose is not to shock the world but give a decent account of things worth talking about. Like Spiderman is taught the valuable lesson, “With great power, comes great responsibility”. It’s time the media woke up to theirs, they cannot bask in their power. Freedom of press, freedom to talk is all great but it comes with a responsibility of being responsible, which sadly the media isn’t.
I have heard from my parents and read the accounts of the media persons working for the National Network, about how they covered the riots connected to the 1984 assassination of Indira Gandhi. They said that they felt responsible for the manner in which they conveyed the news; the idea was to make the nation aware of the loss and not provoke the public. Somehow, that sentiment is absent in the new breed private channels.
The question that remains is, do we as Indians have lost the ‘love for nation’ when we blindly let the media infuriate us with their tone and post comments like “Boycott the games” on social networking sites? I agree that the feeling of betrayal is strong, but why can’t we maturely handle the situation at hand instead of crying over spilt milk? Why let the nation’s image suffer for the mistake of one set of politicians? If we are that hurt by the way it was handled, let’s be a bit undemocratic and sentence all those who were at fault under the strictest laws for tarnishing the image of India, do we have the courage for that? It’s easy to keep blaming, what’s difficult is setting things right.
Tip for the media: North India and Delhi is flooded, many people (read BPL Indians) are subjected to inhuman living conditions and exposed to water-borne diseases, and I feel coverage of that is much more important than water-logging at CWG village. But guess that doesn’t make for a high TRP.
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