Do you like your news to be statements of fact, or do you like it spiced up with oodles of interpretation and imagination? I like to be on top of news, and that starts off with an hour every morning poring over the Delhi edition of the Times of India. And then electronic media takes over - I browse Google news, BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, WSJ, Nytimes, etc. When Google news wasn’t around, I was a frequent visitor to Newstrove, a kind of news aggregator which is pretty much what google news does. Across all these various media/sites, I can’t help notice a very discernible pattern: we Indians seem to like our news liberally garnished with views.
Take the ToI – it prides itself on giving its news with its views. The views may be wrong in many cases, but it doesn’t deter ToI one bit. The TV news channels CNN/IBN, Aajtak etc seem to revel in gory footage and loud reporters airing their theories on what might have transpired. You saw Barkha Dutt on NDTV gasping out information as she walked into a gutted Oberoi building in Bombay after the recent disaster there. This penchant for spicing up info seems to pervade across the more arcane world of business channels too. The RBI governor cut the repo and reverse repo rates today. Both steps generally mean a reduction in rates commercial banks would charge their customers (call it the Prime Lending Rate or PLR), and therefore an expected boost to liquidity. But these consequences are gradual and not immediate...commercial banks don’t slash PLR by 100 basis points for every 100 basis point reductions in repo rates/reverse repo rates. Commercial banks’ PLRs are a function of their deposit/lending mix and some competitive pressure. But the interviewer on CNBCTV18 (Lata) would have none of it. She insisted on grilling Chanda Kocchar (ICICI), Keki Mistry (HDFC) and Chakravarthy (PNB) on the same issue of when they would follow the rate cut with a cut in PLR despite being told in no uncertain terms that PLR is a market determined rate.
This contrasts so vividly with the BBC news. They air known and established events. They don’t speculate. This gets a tad boring for most Indian viewers. And why do I generalize that Indians like their news with views? I think its basic economics – supply exists because demand exists. That explains why we see so many of these look-alike/sound-alike channels like CNN/IBN, Aajtak etc. There’s another interesting law in economics. Say’s law states “supply creates its own demand”. I know the argument gets like the chicken and egg syndrome. But the outcome is clear.
12 comments:
Although I didn't get one bit of the banks and the PLR rate bit, but I totally agree on how the News channels ridiculously throw in their opinions and add masala to the daily dose of News.
During the recent terror strikes I woke up in the morning to the news broken by my dad about what was happening in Mumbai. Shocked and upset, I sat weeping in my room, swapping news channels till India TV totally crackep me up, when they said "Ab hamare saath phone line par hai aatankwadi Oberoi hotel se. Bataiye, aap log kya chahte hai? aap kitni sankhya mein hai andar? Apka agla nishana kya hai?"
DAMN! They telecast can any freaking thing!
Every time I see our news channels bleating out the news, I wish we were as cool as the BBC. Sometimes they (Aaj tak etc.) give us the feeling of being headless chickens, running around in their confusion. I agree about the TOI too. Did u see the panel discussion Barkha had where she was holding a man who'd lost his family in the CST firing...she was actually wiping away tears (real or otherwise).
Indian media is hopelessly over-the-top. Its impossible to watch news without that bearded man yelling the word "sansanikhez" atleast 10 times in 15 minutes.
I dont think the average Indian likes it that way.
and the recent debate on burkha dutt is so annoying..she came across as a wannabe Oprah,and it was nothing but incompetant.having said that, i think its unfortunate that she has been singled out, i mean its full of such loud anchors isnt it
and "awards" for u on my blog :)
...Dont lose sleep about PLRs and repo/reverse repo rates. They dont mean very much anyway.
TID - I saw it all. I think it was an overdose of histrionics all around. The part I found worse than the histrionics and media though was the politicians. Opposition parties trying to cavil at the govt, and the Kerala CM talking about dogs. I sometimes wish we had suave, well educated, articulate and atleast seemingly capable politicians like an Obama.
Scribble - I didnt mean to single out Barkha. They're all equally bad. And yes, I'm heading right over to your site to collect my awards. You bet I'm going to scream from rooftops to anyone who'd care to hear about them for some days to come.
I finally got Leave It to Psmith....I was wondering if it is the first book of the series since Lady Constance Keeble got described in detail as if she'd just walked into the series.
TID - not sure if this is the first book. Come to think of it, most of the characters (including Connie) are fairly well described in this book. But you're in for a really enjoyable read....there's one eminently unforgettable scene of Ralston McTodd and Lord Emsworth lunching together. And then of course there're Freddie Threepwood with all his antics. I'm feeling like reading it all over again.
Seriously, and what about the continous screamin of the same sentence over and over again.
"Hamein abhi abhi jankaari mili hai ki ek billi chajje pe chad gayi hai aur utar nahin paa rahi hai. Billi ek chajje pe chad gayi hai aur utar nahin sakti. Yeh aap dekh rahein hain ki kaise yeh billi chajje pe chad to gayi hai lekin utar nahin paa rahi hai. Aapko hum dikha rahein hai Ek Billi, jee haan, Ek Billi jo chajje pe chad chuki hai badi himmat kar ke, lekin ab wapas utarne ka rasta nahin dhondh paa rahi. Aap khud hi dekhiye ye chajje pe jo billi.... "
GAwwwwwwwdddddd.
@ Rakesh - LOL!! That looks like the formula alright.
There's some news yesterday that the government will permit news channels to carry out only authorized footage in case of events declared as "emergencies". Wonder what these channels will be up to with limited footage going forward. But I'm not too optimistic.
happy new year aries.. how you doing?
Thanks, Scribble. Wishing you and H too a very happy new year 2009. I had healthy plans of getting to Mussoorie for the new year. The season is ripe for photography....clear skies and really cold weather so you get that "magic moment" like you do at the break of dawn almost right through the day. But I fell ill (flu). And I welcomed the new year coughing under a thick quilt. Can it get worse?
I am now up and about...but work has begun too :-(
try Guardian 'comment is free' section ... they make a great read!
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