WHY DO MEDIA AND CITIZENS IGNORE THE MILITARY ?

LOPSIDED MEDIA COVERAGE of MILITARY MATTERS

Musings

By

VIKRAM KARVE

I have before me the Sunday Edition of The Times of India (Sunday Times) [November 17, Pune Edition].

The top banner headline, covering almost two-thirds of the first page of the newspaper is devoted to the incomparable cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar, and rightly so, since he retired yesterday after a fantastic cricketing career and was conferred the nation’s highest civilian honour – The Bharat Ratna.

The rest of the first page is occupied by other main headlines pertaining to the weather in Pune, other miscellaneous news items, the News Digest column and an almost quarter-page colour advertisement.

Tucked away in an insignificant tiny slot, towards the bottom of Page 1, there is a brief news item comprising a few lines about the commissioning of Air Craft carrier INS Vikramaditya into the Indian Navy (The full report has been banished to page 9 of the newspaper).

It seems that the newspaper does not think this military event is of sufficiently high significance to merit a bigger headline or prominent place.

I noticed the same thing on TV yesterday where it was Sachin Tendulkar dominating the news all over throughout the day (and rightly so, for his spectacular achievements do deserve all the adulation).

But is it proper for the electronic media to almost ignore the news of INS Vikramaditya – I did not see any TV channel covering live the commissioning ceremony of the warship.

I am a fan of Sachin Tendulkar and he fully deserves the prominence given by the media for his magnificent contribution to the nation throughout his glorious cricketing career.

But is it fair to ignore an important military event like commissioning of an Aircraft Carrier which has a significant bearing on India’s defence capabilities?

I agree that in today’s world, as far as citizens and media are concerned, sportsmen are given much more importance than soldiers.

But tell me, God Forbid, if there is a war tomorrow – do citizens and media expect sportsmen to pick up their sporting gear (cricket bats, hockey sticks et al) and rush to the battlefield to fight the enemy?

By the way, I once saw on TV that Sachin Tendulkar was conferred the Honorary Rank of Group Captain in the Indian Air Force and I am sure he will agree that the citizens and media ought not to totally ignore the soldier, sailor and airman and they must not treat military news as insignificant.

It seems that today’s media in India is obsessed with cricket and politics.

As far as matters military are concerned, the media neither thoroughly covers them nor has in-depth knowledge of defence subjects.

The citizens too are not very interested in security matters, despite the fact that we have one of the largest armed forces in the world and spend a huge amount of money on defence.

I hope the media introspects on this and gives balanced coverage to news pertaining to military matters and the armed forces and the citizens too evince take more interest in defence issues.

As an afterthought, a question arose in my mind:

Eminent persons from almost all fields have been awarded the Bharat Ratna – Freedom Fighters, Politicians, Social Reformers, Academicians, Artists, Sportsmen, Scientists, Businessmen, persons from other fields too.

But has any eminent military personality been awarded the Bharat Ratna?

MAINSTREAM versus SOCIAL MEDIA - BALANCE AND CREDIBILITY IN NEWS REPORTING

MAINSTREAM versus SOCIAL MEDIA

BALANCE AND CREDIBILITY IN NEWS REPORTING

Musings

By

VIKRAM KARVE

When I was a small boy, after dinner, I would sit with my father and listen to the 9 o’clock news on All India Radio (AIR). Then we would all go to sleep. Once in a while we would tune into BBC for the World News.

Later, with the advent of Television (TV), I started watching the news bulletin every night on Doordarshan.

I liked the no-frills simple style of AIR and Doordarshan.

Then, there was the information technology boom. It was fascinating to see the proliferation of news channels blaring round the clock with breaking news in so many languages. The TRP driven channels were each trying to outdo the other in packaging and presenting news in an aggressive style not seen before. For a simple viewer like me, bombarded with news 24/7 and with so many options, it was difficult to choose from the “information overload” of “News”.

Now, I have decided to stop watching News Channels on TV.

I am going to get my News from the Internet, primarily via the Social Media like Twitter and Facebook and also via Google, Yahoo, YouTube and various News Sites and e-newspapers. I can read most of the regional, national and international newspapers online too.

I have decided to stop watching Indian Mainstream Electronic Media TV News Channels for three reasons:

1. Most Mainstream TV News Channels focus on “Views” rather than “News”. Instead of reporting factual news in an objective and unbiased manner they “process” the news with their own views and broadcast the news as if they are trying to “brainwash” the viewer by bombarding him with subjective opinionated and biased views. Prime Time “Debates” to propagate “Views” are given more priority than telecasting simple accurate authentic “News”.

2. Mainstream TV News Channels are “Delhi-Centric”. An incident in Delhi or NCR is blown out of proportion whereas a similar incident in a distant city or remote mofussil rural part of India is either ignored or just given a passing mention.

3. Mainstream Media TV Channels do not seem to be “neutral” non-aligned and independent. Instead of telecasting news in a fair, transparent, independent, non-partisan and even-handed manner, on occasions, they seem to exhibit bias, partiality and imbalance. To a balanced viewer it appears as if they are taking sides. Whereas some acts and statements are given undue prominence, sometimes even quoted out of context, and highlighted as “breaking news”, similar acts and statements by others are either not reported at all or just given a cursory mention. Thus, while watching news, even an open-minded viewer gets an impression that news channels are opinionated and subjective in their approach.

Whenever I switch on the TV to watch the news I want credible reportage which is authentic, accurate, prompt, fair, objective and unbiased.

I want to watch debates conducted in a balanced even-handed equitable manner with all participants given fair opportunity to air and discuss their views.

That is why I am going to watch BBC and CNN for the international news.

And as far as the indigenous news is concerned, I am going to try to get it from the Internet and Social Media, and maybe I will watch a few Regional TV News Channels for the local news.

And yes, for nostalgic sake, I am going to watch the news bulletin on Doordarshan and hear the 9 o’clock news on All India Radio too.

Let’s see how it works out. At least, I will go to sleep early, unruffled by the prime time debates that generate more heat than light.