Monday, December 08, 2008

What a victory!

What a victory! What a victory!!! I not only could see the excitement in his voice, but also in his whole body language. He was running around as though India had just won the world cup (Cricket, of course, not soccer!). For a second, I was confused and had to check up whether I was on the right website. This, neither was entertainment news and neither did it have anything to do with sports.

Anyway, I was watching the Assembly election results in six states held across different parts of India. After watching election news all these years,, I can still safely say, without any presumptions, that Prannoy Roy was simply the best in business - calm, composed, and perfect to the point, with a good team of political analysts. Now, with the advent of time, and with the advancement in technology, there is so much access to statistics online, that anything and everything is just a click of a button away. But, those days, to compile everything methodically from different sources, was more like a salesman job, running from one house to another. Today, as media has become over hyped, and always in the region of over the top reporting, the style and class of the traditionalists can still not be surpassed.

So, as my friends and I tuned into one of the channels, and saw the ultra biased reporting, it was difficult for us to fathom the fact that journalism had become so one sided. There is a thin line between reporting and taking sides, and it required no Einstein to figure out which way the analysis, if that's the term you need to use, was headed. It was just half an hour since the results started pouring in, and we were really not sure who was more excited, whether the winning party or the channel. It was as though the party spokesperson was relaying the news of the election results.

Oh, X is winning by a landslide in state Y. So, we can definitely go on to say that X is forming the government in Y without any question. After a few minutes, as the gap closes in, it was equally amusing to hear the statement. Oh, We have no doubt that X is definitely heading to be the single largest party and is all set to form the government with the help of others.

As a neutral observer, the bias was easy to notice, and on an equal footing, totally disconcerting. From time memorial, there has always been some sort of an unspoken relationship between the media and those involved in the political circles. It was visible, but not explicit, as the print media, apart from a few scribes, were careful to disguise their affinity in well worded terms. Some of the brilliant journalists made sure that they conveyed their views in apolitical terms. That truly is straight from the heart journalism. But today, as the hype beyond proportions, reaches almost all sections of the society, it is disheartening to note that media has become vocal in a completely parochial sense.

After a few minutes, we were dying to change the channel, and as one of my friends rightly said, At least for the sake of this guy, I want party X to be vanquished in all states. And, if you have been following the election results even vaguely, you don't need to be a brilliant political analyst to figure out the protagonists.

6 comments:

  1. I did not follow the live commentary on the channels. Who are the X's, Y's, and the news readers?

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  2. I totally agree with you.. they do that all the time... reminds me of Suntv and Jaya tv.. especially news[:D] its hilarious..

    Journalism is lost its charm.. but got its glam..

    I remember being the audience in a student interaction program with Rahul Dravid.. and these guys were like soo programed.. Only a few selected ones.. as planned before were let to interact... the others were asked to clap when this one silly looking guy behind the cameraman raised his hand..

    Nicely written.. genuine claps :D :D ..

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  3. Oh, thank God, you guys did not meet Rahul Dravid now. For the kind of poor form he is going through, a handful of journalist students can make him feel as if his whole existence is questionable!!!

    Why don't you go and interview the Chopra and Johar khandhan, and ask them to stop film making! That will be a great service to this nation!!!

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  4. Nice one :) where exactly are you these days ?

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  5. Am invisible, tucked in bed, covered thoroughly be comforters and blankets!!! :-)
    Will ping you sometime, am traveling this week.

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