Media should refrain itself...

A couple of months ago a news of kidnapping of a Mumbai based businessman’s son projected as breaking news on a TV news channel. Latter this was followed by the news of murder of the kidnapped boy by kidnappers.

Last year a Hindi TV news channel (names itself `the best of all’) broke news of an extra marital affair of a 53 year old Patna based Hindi Professor with a girl student, who is of too younger than the Professor. The news channel did not stop itself there but held several talk shows and also brought the professor, his wife and his girlfriend to the show in order discuss their very personal matters. This was imitated by a few Hindi TV news channels latter, as it was their main news-story subject.

A year ago in a birthday party, a pop singer kissed a dancer girl who is famous as item number in Hindi movies. This incident was followed with the item number girl lodged a police complaint against the pop singer. This incident was shown and discussed by a TV channel (includes `India’ in its name) as if the issue was of national importance. Recently, the same news channel followed the pop singer and the dancer girl to receive their reactions on the occasion of completion of a year to past kissing incident. This was certainly height of their non-sense.

All three incidents are distinct but they share a similarity that all three were projected as so called `breaking news’ on TV news channels. The consequence of the first incident was so severe that the kidnappers after watching the news of their kidnapping on TV, feared of arrest and immediately killed the kidnapped boy. The second and third incident put serious questions on journalistic abilities of the concerned news correspondence and the channel authorities. All three incidents showed that these journalists forgot basic values of journalism on which the journalism stands.

On the incident of kidnapping of boy, the concerned TV channel did not bother to think possible consequences of such a hasty act of flashing the news repeatedly on TV. They calculated their business motive more profitable than the precious life of somebody. The news breaker and then the news correspondence and his channel behaved in irresponsible manner to indirectly cause a victim. They showed their obsessiveness toward such shocking news however, a very heavy price had been paid by parents of the boy. The parents and relatives of the boy lashed out at media personnel who went on quickly to cover reactions over killing of the kidnapped boy. They asked media personnel if they could at least be allowed to moan death of their loved one in peace.

The news telecasts related to the Professor’s affair and kissing act of a pop singer reached disgusting low levels. The news channel behaved hysteric while following these incidents and their news anchors seemed mediators of a dispute between two parties disputing in a `mohalla’. The concerned news channel showed their poor class and made mockery themselves. The TRP was very important from their perspective than fair professionalism.

There are serious concerns raised over `media’s hysteric behavior’ in the pursuit of `breaking news’ and TRP. The former president of India while speaking recently at the Ramnath Goenka Memorial Debate highlighted media’s crucial role in nation building process and he appealed media should refrain itself from being hysteric over making `breaking news’ and `TRPs’.

For many years we all know that in this way or that way a few print media and some TV news channels are politically biased and they keep endorse political agenda of their closely related political leaders and parties. However, their being `hysteric’ and ‘irresponsible’ over likes of three representative incidences brings disrepute to the profession of journalism. Certainly, such media personnel should relearn and act by the basic principles and values of journalism, otherwise journalism will very soon be called a `corrupt’ and ‘opportunistic’ profession.

Is it really a `social work' activity?

I have been working in an India based MNC. My company takes pride to be associated with a local NGO working for underprivileged group of people. The association of my company is not only confined to charity or donations but it ensures that interested employees do participate as volunteers in NGO sponsored activities.

One of the colleagues of mine received a periodical mail appealing to be a volunteer and participant in the NGO sponsored activity. The activity was to spend some time on a festival day with orphanage children. He asked me if he could send my nomination too along with his nomination. He didn’t stop there, further, he asked all his closed colleagues to join him to participate in `social work’. It gave him pride to send our forceful nominations to join him in so called `social work’ activity. Upon asking him, he said it was matter of only two hours spending there, distributing sweets and new clothes to orphanage children. He said thus he was going to be altruistic and helpful.

The intension is fair to spend two hours with orphanage children, sharing some time with them, however in the name of `social work’ is something really questionable.

First, I do admit that my friend was being individual specific to define his spending two hours as `social work’. However, he is not the only to feel and do in this way, the original sensible meaning of `social work’ has been lost.

The politicians, celebrities, NGOs and media have been responsible to change the meaning of `social work’. The motives of politicians and celebrities behind participating in social activities are to gain publicity and yet media gives them name of `social workers’, nobody bothers to think what really is social work? Is spending sometime with underprivileged while seeking publicity becomes social work and gives a sense of altruism?

In India, social work research has shown that there are only a few NGOs which are engaged in implementing serious social work activities and methods and the rest are only remained fund raising firms. These fund raising firms have given a bad name to social work. They are happy to invite celebrities, top businessmen and from recently to MNC employees to spend sometime with their inmates. They are happy because their invitees give them funds, do not raise serious questions on their genuine social work abilities and hence in turn they give publicity to celebrity invitees. The NGO associated with my company is of same kind. The way it appeals is somewhat like `instant social work and instant fame’, provided you donate them in money or kinds.

If one feels serious about contributing to social work activities like this, then must ask some simple following questions to himself:-

Is spending two hours, distributing sweets on a festival day, giving away new clothes in the exchange of publicity, a real social work?

Is spending two hours, distributing sweets on a festival day, giving away new clothes make people at the receiving end really benefited? Or is it just making them dependent on being happy if something received from others?

I do not intend to define social work here, but strongly criticize growing false sense of social work and altruism among the educated people and considered as intellectuals too.

Practice makes you stay Perfect !

"Practice makes you perfect, it is true. However, regular practice only makes you stay perfect." I read this quotation in the past and experienced the meaning of the first sentence personally. I got convinced truth of the second sentence recently when I heard about a small incidence from my friend who referred it while making me understood the importance of regular practice recognized by even great performers.

Once a famous Indian classical vocalist and a foremost exponent of Hindustani classical music and Mewati Gharana was on a visit to a place where he was requested by host local citizens to perform. Knowing the greatness of Panditaji the hosts assumed that he could perform his best anytime and went onto insist him. Panditaji was very polite and humble to refuse their request.

He said that he would not be able to perform at his best because he had not had his riyaaz on that day.

No one else could have underlined the importance of regular practice (riyaaz) better than Panditji. The greatest like him thinks, he needs regular practice to perform his Perfect best. No matter how much great you are and how many times have you performed the best in the past, you need regular practice to stay Perfect !