I'm all for Free Press. That is a basic accessory to a functioning democracy. India, I am proud to say has traditionally had minimal interference by government on news agencies. The only exception being the Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi in the mid 70's. That too was not well received by the electorate and the Congress was voted out of power subsequently.
However, there has to be a certain decorum about how the media functions. It cannot just create controversies out of thin air. I am being very idealistic here because covering news is big business and the best sound bites are the controversial ones. However, over a period of time people will see through it and their faith will reduce in the media. That would indeed be sad.
I am writing this in the light of the recent controversy in the Indian T20 cricket team. The T20 World Cup is going on and all the media can focus on is "Dhoni vs. Sehwag" - the rift that may or may not be there. They ask stupid questions to Dhoni in the press conference and when he gets annoyed, they treat it as a personal affront. The whole media industry jumps in to castigate Dhoni as if he committed sacrilege. This self-righteougness is wrong on their part and they have to show some maturity. However, when anchors like Barkha Dutt are made chief editors of the most popular English News channel, 'maturity' is the last word that comes to mind.
In conclusion, one can only hope that the Indian Cricket Team does not get distracted by the media and retains the trophy. The media should not be allowed to hijack India's moment of glory.
However, there has to be a certain decorum about how the media functions. It cannot just create controversies out of thin air. I am being very idealistic here because covering news is big business and the best sound bites are the controversial ones. However, over a period of time people will see through it and their faith will reduce in the media. That would indeed be sad.
I am writing this in the light of the recent controversy in the Indian T20 cricket team. The T20 World Cup is going on and all the media can focus on is "Dhoni vs. Sehwag" - the rift that may or may not be there. They ask stupid questions to Dhoni in the press conference and when he gets annoyed, they treat it as a personal affront. The whole media industry jumps in to castigate Dhoni as if he committed sacrilege. This self-righteougness is wrong on their part and they have to show some maturity. However, when anchors like Barkha Dutt are made chief editors of the most popular English News channel, 'maturity' is the last word that comes to mind.
In conclusion, one can only hope that the Indian Cricket Team does not get distracted by the media and retains the trophy. The media should not be allowed to hijack India's moment of glory.
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