Were
the prime time ever like this? Forget the entertainment, the discussions, the
deliberations, the theories of conspiracies & the opinions? AIR was dull
& aptly forgotten, DD a distant memory of avuncular anchors & instant
fashion – PrimeTime was begotten by a lad called Shohaib Illaisi & for a
time India’s Most Wanted may have held as much sway over popular imagination as
Alif Laila!
This
was followed by a forgettable innings of Star-NDTV alliance, forgettable in
impact but a consummation that gave birth to the modern day journalist (by
definition of modern day journalism).
Deed
done, it was time for Renaissance, & a young Rajat Sharma gave use those 1st
glimpses of today’s media courtrooms with Aap ki Adalat – the tonality was
witty yet the seeds of ridicule were sown back then. Gradually as Aliens
abducted cows & Gods developed a fancy for appetite of common man’s food, News
Prime Time actively competed with scheming MILs & docile DILs.
&
there was nothing wrong with this narrative, why can news not be entertainment,
why can truth not be unbelievable or frivolous or yes even be doubtful? It was
entertainment – we really did not need issues – who really wants to know about
displaced cultures for which NBA strived, who really cared about Dalits &
Adivaasis? A growing nation needs not issues but solutions and a guilt-free conscience
for indulgence. & we did cry & made candles in an electrified India an
item of activism – Uphaar happened & so did Bil Clinton’s visit!
So
far, all good – a frivolous race living in with an uprooted media. & then
somewhere the Nation realized it needed to know…Know not as knowledge but know
as a means to realise its middle class nationalistic aspirations. News began a
transformation in the age of Social Media – entertainment was pushed to
segments, action packed entertainment started dominating the narrative. The Angry
Young Man of 70’s cinema was taking over News & the cynical among us
watched in amusement as we were taken over, pushed to minority, labeled (along
with family & friends) anti-nationals & then strategically silenced.
Today, a Ravish can blame the social media, other media, we the people, but
what did he do or a Barkha or Rajdeep did? Today, the only reason the majority
follows them is for the abuses, or some like us, who saw through this
transformation without ever realizing it.
We
are protesting over dead bodies now, protest a skill that we have so well
mastered, an act we specialize in without any results. We were cynics then,
hopeless now. We have done everything but make one sustained resolution to put
a stop to this demonization of media. News are getting louder by the day, yet
the silence of press is deafening.
A
journalist was a clown when she/he reported on Ravan’s lost airport with
c-grade vfx, yet a clown that was harmless. Today, your community has lost its
public respect. You lost values then & the innocuous looking frivolity has
come back to haunt you today. The brave among you are dying & condolences
are looking hollower by the day. The celebration over their passing is more
frenzied, more evoking than the muted speeches in Delhi!
Why
is the journalist feeling weak when her strength has the potential to transform
opinions so superfluously formed over bare propaganda. Gauri Lankesh was not
the 1st, she won’t be the last & she knew this. She still chose
her path, her destiny was for a cause, do not defeat it by your silence.
You
may be a few, mostly unheard warriors, some troll-abused, but march on. Don’t
wait for a middle-class awakening. You made them such, you lost your respect,
now regain it. The responsibility lies with you!
