Role of Indian electronic media during terrorist attack in Mumbai

What mass media did during the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai clearly demonstrates how callous our media is in dealing such sensitive situations. There was a time when any national or international incident of importance was brought to the notice of public by newspapers or radio. Then came T.V. and with it came Doordarshan. There were elaborate reporting of the incidents in mainstream newspapers and also there were heavily loaded follow up of the story written by some eminent journalist. But this was not the case with Doordarshan as it was mainly controlled by the government. So at the end of the day what was presented to the mass was pure refined news.

With change in time news creation transformed into news production. With the proliferation of private news channels Doordarshan went into back foot. And India witnessed a new style in reporting with loads of glamour in it. T.V producers, presenters, reporters trained from BBC, CNN, Reuters, FOX News joined the private News channels of repute like NDTV, TIMES NOW, CNN IBN STAR NEWS etc. Thus started a war to present breaking news and exclusive stories to the audience as fast as it could be. The channel that churns out more such stories is hailed as the best in the race.

This race got fire during the recent terrorist attack in TAJ Hotel, Oberoi Trident Hotel and Nariman House in Mumbai. India is being repeatedly attacked by terrorists from neighboring nations is nothing new today but getting exclusive images of such encounter was what Indian media eagerly waiting for. T.V. footage of journalists kneeling down and reporting live from the encounter sites in TAJ Hotel, Oberoi Trident Hotel and Nariman House in Mumbai was clearly indicating how excited those journalists were. To many of them it was like reporting from the army bunker when enemy shell was repeatedly hurled from the other side.

The journalists were seen quizzing every people roaming around the terror sites for some bit of news which they can pass as exclusive. And the presenter seating at the air conditioned studio was busy in breaking such baseless news to public. Everything was in a mess, the reporting was not proper, figures were not correct and the fumbling was terribly annoying.

Most importantly the journalists were a menace for the security personnel who were bravely fighting the intruders. The journo brigade almost gheraoed the senior army officials and interrogated to pass them their strategy. This doesn’t only killed precious time during action but also presented the terrorists with the important information about the NSG commandoes plan of action.

Now when the mini war is over and battle is won successfully by the Indian army the same media is raising questions at the politicians, government and even the army. Why not they introspect at themselves? What have they done to educate the people either then presenting terror footage? What have they done constructively to create a mass upheaval against terror and national politicians?

Ban on smoking has gone up in smoke

After crossing lot of hurdles the health minister of India, Mr. Anbumani Ramadoss is finally successful in transforming the law on smoking ban from papers to reality. This was a very tough job for the minister who gathered ire from different sections of the society. Well the anger is true to some extent, especially when the citizens take it as their fundamental right. Who doesn’t smoke? Where you will draw the line? Poor, millionaire, doctors, actors, politicians, govt. officials, teachers, police, criminal, army man, spiritual leaders, women, students and all, smoke to attain ecstasy. Therefore the ban on smoking came over them as a curb on their democracy. Millions in India sportingly avoid standing in queues to vote, but how can they quit smoking?

Annually thousands die due to smoking related diseases in India and the most popular of them is cancer. Interestingly people feel jittery even talking about cancer, but at the same time they are so reluctant about its major cause. Several throw such arguments that ­­­­­--- even smoking is banned cancer can’t be prevented or pollution kills more than smoking. The problem in India is that very few people know little but understands more. To avoid uneasy problem they create their own stories as part of self defence mechanism.

Who cares about the fine? Those who smoke spend thousands or even more in a year on their preferred brands of puff. So only a Rs. 200 fine cannot stop them from smoking in public places. Even the law enforcement body is reluctant. People smoking boldly everywhere, but nobody is there to punish them. Politicians fear that they may lose some loyal voters if they try to become strict. So pretending is the best policy to avoid the situation and let the smoking ban go up in smoke.

An enigma called BREAKING NEWS

Every ‘NEWS’ is now a ‘BREAKING NEWS’ that’s what is claimed and preached by India’s popular news channels especially meant for the Hindi speaking mass such as AajTak, Zee News and India TV. These channels have completely turned the meaning of BREAKING NEWS in news industry. Looking at the ferocity and spontaneity of churning out breaking news by these channels it is clear that the producers of these channels have decided any news with juicy content will be taken as breaking news, otherwise not.

According to Wikipedia (the online reliable encyclopaedia), “Breaking news is a current event that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming in order to report its details. Its use is often loosely assigned to the most significant story of the moment or a story that is being covered live. It could be a story that is simply of wide interest to viewers and has little impact otherwise.”

This is a widely accepted definition of BREAKING NEWS in the news industry. But AajTak, Zee News and India TV in particular have reshaped the definition in their own way. These two channels primarily consider news to be as breaking news looking at its viewereship, which mainly comprise Hindi speaking mass of India. So they normally pick news that appeals the emotions, inquisition and sociological background of such viewers. In addition to these the quantity of Hindi speaking viewer is too strong, which makes it too hard to resist the TRP that comes as a bonus for these commercial hungry so called news channels. The truth behind this statement will be justified if the breaking news broadcasted by these channels is watched carefully.

Such breaking news doesn’t accumulate much interest in Eastern and Southern part of India, where the Hindi speaking viewer is comparatively less. Strangely being national news channel AajTak, Zee News and India TV is least bothered about other part of India. They very much like Raj Thackeray wants to earn the attention of a particular fraction of the society. These channels are not ruled by strong editorial team/content instead is guided by the advertisers who force them to pick news that has an entertainment value.

If this is not the case then how these channels air news (if they really deserve to be categorised as news) such as calf born with 2 heads, Aishwarya and Abhishek’s pooja, tantriks evaluating what would have been the best possible solution for the Bachchan, Mallika’s fallout on her performance on the new year eve and many similar news as breaking news.

These channels broadcast illogical, impractical, gossip making, supernatural, violence and nudity in the name of news which is evident from the amusing and catchy headline they flash as breaking news such as:

Katrinaka sudh hindi shuniye

Camera me kalajadu

America mei music album mein macha bawal

Commissioner ka kutta mila

Kapde churanewali bhut

Shararti langur ke harkate

Aao yamlok chale

Muat ke bad

Bagh ka hua prem

Khuni barish ke piche kaun?

Pyaaz mangnewali churail

Salman ke sasuralwale

Chajje pe billo rani

Rahul ne dal puri aur sabji khai

Amitabh Bachchan ko thand lagi

Wonder from which planet these TV producers have come! It will be another breaking news then.

Kolkata is unfavourable for studying mass communication

For aspiring journalists who dream of working in reputed newspaper houses and T.V channels or for copywriters/media planers/visualisers in big advertising agencies getting admission in a good media school or college is a first step to success. Apart from the newspaper houses and T.V channels there are also public relation agencies and event management companies that are part of the large media industry. With the healthy rise in Indian economy supported by the growing awareness about media among the mass of the society there has been a substantial rise in the media industry particularly in the news sector all across India.

Leaving aside rest of India if just Kolkata is considered as a case study then it will be fascinating to see at the number of regional 24 hours news channel, newspaper (monthly, fortnightly, weekly) that has entered the media market in the past 4 years. This rapid development has simultaneously increased the demand for educated and skilled professionals in the field. The skilled professionals mainly come from the media schools and colleges such as Calcutta University, Jadavpur University, St. Xavier’s College, Bhavan's Asutosh College of Communication and Management, Netaji Subhas University and several others based in Kolkata.

The glitz and glamour of media is so alluring that every year huge number of students try to get admission into the reputed colleges of Kolkata that offer M.A. or P.G. Diploma in Mass Communication and Journalism to add a new dimension to their career. But very few students do a basic reality check of these institutions before taking admission. After the end of higher secondary or ISC exam most of the students are mainly focussed on getting admission into a reputed college to add value in their resume in future.

In such mad rush the students actually overlook that mass communication is not that usual kind of subject that can be acquired just by taking notes inside a class. There is an immense need for practical classes in order to grasp the subject as well the market properly. But very few mass communication institutions in Kolkata leaving aside only St. Xavier’s College have the practice of practical classes that is essential to this subject. A student who has not done field work or internship while studying mass comm. is not practically fit for the industry that what is believed by the experts in the industry.

The P.G. Diploma in mass communication course in Jadavpur University is an instance that attracts nearly 3,000 applications every year out of which only 145 get through after admission test and a viva. Recognitions such as 'University with Potential for Excellence' by University Grants Commission (UGC), 'Five Star' status by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), First Indian University to earn SYLFF (Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund) status from the Nippon Foundation, Japan are the only reasons behind the rush among the studenst to get into J.U. mass comm. department.

Students realise the futility of the course when classes commence after puja vacation (november). There are only two to three full time professors and the rest are media professionals acting as guest lecturer. Most of the guest lecturers during the course remain busy with their respective job so they don’t find enough time and urge to visit the classes in J.U. As a result most of the time the classes are declared free. Rest of the time the classes mainly concentrate on theory and notes. Before the exam the same professors provide the students with pre-drafted notes that the students distribute among themselves and fetch the pass mark. Some students who do a little library work manage to get a first class. Very few media companies come for campus recruitment. Even the officials in the department are reluctant to invite potential recruiters. Compared to all these the department has kept the course fee to 15,000 at par with the course fee of P.G. Diploma in mass communication of Indian Institute of Mass Communication.

So students do some reality check before you want to study mass communication in Kolkata. Best of Luck...

Kolkata metro rail staff shock passengers

Once the pride of Kolkata, Kolkata Metro Railway is running into huge loss is a news that often comes in local newspapers and TV channels. At the end of each financial year the metro rail authority comes out with this startling fact, which is hard to believe watching each train plying from Tollygunge to DumDum station packed house every time.

But this is for sure that the metro rail staffs have earned a very bad reputation among the Kolkatans due to their reluctant, callous, raucous and unapologetic attitude. Unfortunately they have forgotten (deliberately) that they are not earning bad name for themselves but for the metro organization as a whole. The metro railway staffs treat the passengers as herds of animal who board the train on a daily basis. They don’t even show the slightest courtesy while listening to the passengers query when brought in front of them. Instead they are always demonstrating a damn care attitude towards the passengers.

When any passenger takes a question to a metro staff, they start playing with the passenger by sending him from one person to another. Till the person is tired and gets irritated and vacates the place without receiving his answer this sort of game continues. Even if the staffs don’t have a proper answer to the question they won’t let that person know, instead they will continue to harass the passenger who may be hurrying to office, school, hospital or home. Interestingly, when the passenger leaves cursing these staffs, the staffs undeterred about the incident laughs at the passenger’s plight.

The automatic entry/exit machines installed at every metro station have become faulty due to extensive use. As a result, these machines often malfunction during peek hours creating a chaotic situation among the passengers. These machines either show faulty ticket counts or simply damage the ticket with its sharp edges. Sometimes the tickets also get stuck in these machines. During office hours when every minutes count for an office going person this type of negligence is intolerable and amusing when the metro rail itself talks so much about punctuality.

When any passenger caught in this situation asks for the staffs help then his ordeal increases for worse. The passenger is first send to the station master’s office (SMO) where the station master asks the passenger innumerable question only to prove that it was the passengers fault. Then the station master takes out a pencil/pen and starts pressing it over the retrieved/crushed ticket to make it straight. Astonishingly this is a unique technique the metro staff of all the stations has acquired to treat a damaged ticket. Then the station master takes out a heavy, peculiar looking portable machine and inserts the ticket in its flap to see if the ticket is okay. Even this machine is so outdated that he is unable to take a proper reading at one go. So he carries on this process for at least an infinite time till he is satisfied with the result.

Now if any passenger during this long process doesn’t bear all this patiently and asks the respective station master to make it fast. Then he will be abused by the station master and soon all other staff will gather around to abuse the passenger leaving behind their official work. They will unitedly fight the case till the passenger succumbs to the pressure and leaves the place or board a train only to find that he is alone, defeated, terribly late and verbally abused.

The moral of the story according to the malevolent metro rail staff is “don’t mess with the metro staff they are perfect and united for their own cause”.

Hope someday a member of the Kolkata metro railway will read this post and put a justified comment on it to prove it wrong.

The entry of Balika Vadhu, exit of Saas Bahu

The tele producers (Ekta Kapoor & Balaji Telefilms) has finally decided to pull the plug on the 8 year long Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. According to the producers this move was pre-planned as the script demanded so. But if TRPs are something to be believed, then it is the new serial Balika Vadhu currently being aired on Colors has eaten a big pie from the Kunki Saas’s drooping Television Rating Point (TRP).

Forget the ancient, typical, over hyped Saas - Bahu’s who were only fond of glycerine, and welcome the sweet Balika Vadhu who fills the TV screen with liveliness during the prime time slot from 8 to 8.30 p.m. Feeling the pulse of the large TV viewing audience who were already bored with the over acting of Smriti Irani as the archetypal Bahu in Kyunki Saas…and with the ongoing, never ending drama of reality shows, the producers in Colors channel thought it as the right time to launch Balika Vadhu. And they were absolutely right with their research and planning.

The result is evident from the latest TRPs of the Balika Vadhu show released by TAM. The show has managed to receive a rating of 4.60 for channel Colors, which is worth appreciating. The show has become so popular in such a short span that the channel has decided to do two repeat telecasts a day - at 11 p.m. the same day and at 2 p.m. the next.

The storyline of Balika Vadhu deals with a sweet and bubbly child bride called Anandi, who is married off to a young boy called Jagdish. Although set in an arid, rural Rajasthan, the serial is a relief for the TV audience whose eyes were dazzled by the extravagant set, loud make-up and ravishing sarees and jewellery, part of the nautankis from Ekta Kapoor stable.

Apart from the real life and controlled acting from the all the stars of Balika Vadhu that include Surekha Sikri, Anoop Soni, Smita Bansal and Bhairavi Raichura, the cinematography is worth mentioning. Special mention must be made about the 10-year-old girl Avika Gor, who plays the role of Anandi. She is a perfect casting for the role of Anandi done by Purnendu Shekhar, the writer and director of the serial. Interestingly, Purnendu Shekhar wrote the script of Balika Vadhu for a film in 1992.

The serial has created such popularity and awareness among the general TV viewing audience that the media (equally newspaper and TV) has already started to compare it with the masterpieces like Tamas and Godan that was once aired on Doordarshan (DD).

Reality of Reality Shows

14 year old Neera was waiting anxiously, exhausted and hungry outside an audition centre in a metropolitan city. She had come with her mother to take part in an audition for a popular T.V reality show that is to be aired on a national entertainment channel. She was holding her mother’s hand tightly anticipating the final result of her performance.

This result can become the first step towards the glamorous stardom. Everyone is throwing their best to reach that stardom, but very few can actually reach that place. The lucky one who reaches that point is hailed as the best and is idolised by all and also by those who could not achieve that coveted place. And the one who cannot reach that place, although staying just one step behind is termed as potentially weak. A term that has the potential to wreck a youngster’s aspiration, and morale.

Unable to bear the pressure of a reality show, Neera gives up and suddenly collapses on the ground. Her mother who was earlier trying to calm Neera’s nerve now herself becomes nervous and shouts for help. But no one comes to her rescue as all the participants and their parents are waiting for the result. She cries for help several times, when one of the volunteers for the show turns up and assist Neera with water.

This is a very common sight in most of the reality show venues at this moment. Reality show is buzzing in the entertainment industry. Whether it is a dance show such as Jhum tara na, Dhoom Machale le or Nach Baliye, singing show such as Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma, Star Voice of India Chhote Ustad or Star Voice of India or other adult reality show like MTV roadies or Big Boss all attract huge (Television Rating Points) TRPs for the entertainment channels like Sony, Star Plus, Etv, Zee Bangla, Zee TV etc. The basic fact is, in an era where TRPs and SMSes rule the game, well planned reality shows are spinning money for the producers, which is a factor that motivates many others to join the race.

Hate it or like it reality shows are ruling the prime time of TV viewing. Such shows has even pushed back political quarrel that are often staged in the news channels between political leaders. Moreover major events in a popular reality show are aired as BREAKING NEWS in all national English and Hindi news channels.

Now in this situation how can parents only sit back and enjoy such shows in their comfy atmosphere at home and do not push their children into the fire of reality shows. How can they miss the opportunity of proudly announcing in front of the T.V reporters that their son or daughter is the winner and how much sacrifice they have done to achieve this?

In this allure of a reality show many young participants like Neera becomes the victims and they are the only one who truly realise the reality of such shows.

Inside the police system

Unfortunately the police department is always shrouded with controversies. Whether it is the infamous Rizwanur case or the brutal firing in Nandigram that killed many people in recent past, the police department is unable to wash its hands of sin. The daily newspapers or the T.V channels are always churning out new stories that glaringly points out at the notorious acts of the police. Taking bribes and hafta from the market is a common business skill of the police, which is well known, thanks to the hindi film industry or Bollywood. It can often be seen in the daylight that some over greedy and irresponsible member of the police family tarnishing the image of Khaki uniform by accepting ten rupees notes from the truck drivers in important street crossings. Sadly there were several incidents where many such police personals were caught raid handed by the public and beaten up in the road before being handed over to the police again.

Here is another instance of a heinous crime (I don’t know whether it should be an appropriate term to describe the situation) that is executed by the police. This was revealed by a police personal on a candid interaction.

Hope, every one has noticed a blackboard in a police station where types of crime and its rate of happening in a particular area are recorded (in Hindi/Bengali films and even in popular T.V serials and soaps this can be often seen). This is maintained by every police station on a daily basis at the end of the day. Now the system is that the head or the Officer in Charge (OC) of a particular police station has to give a summary of the crime record at the end of the day to the head (Boss) of the particular zone, who generally sits in the police headquarter. Although it is a part of the routine, but providing a summary reflects how effective the particular station is in maintaining law and order in the area. The number of arrest or raid in a day indicates the level of efficiency of the staff of a particular police station. The head of police issue number of cases to the OC everyday, and the later has to adhere to the issue diligently.

Naturally, every OC share the pressure with other staffs of the station to show a colourful crime record at the end of the day to impress his/her boss. Now if he/she is unable to show such colourful record then it justifies that he/she is inefficient in shouldering the responsibility.

Interestingly, it is well known that the police maintain a strong liaison with the criminals in order to extract vital information from them. Apart from this the criminals also help the police in another way. If the OC finds that the number of case filed by the station is insufficient in comparison to the number issued by the boss, he shifts to Plan B.

Now what is Plan B?

According to this plan the OC calls up at the criminal bases or the chief of a criminal gang popularly known as bhai or mastan to supply few petty criminals. Following the discussion they both negotiate a deal in this plan where the bhai sends the desired number of criminals from his gang to the police station and the OC in turn assures him of some information about his rival group.

In another plan to fill the magic number the staffs goes out to patrol at night and picks up innocent sleeping vagrants from the streets and put them inside the lock up and file petty criminal cases.

One shocking revelation by the police man during the interaction was that they often pick up young innocent workers from construction sites and file theft and robbery cases against them. These workers, mostly illiterate comes from rural areas found themselves trap in a conspiracy. Next day when these people are presented before the Court of Magistrate as per the law, they are either charged with criminal cases or had to shell out heavy amount to receive bail.

The police station earns praise from the department due to their efficiency and the system runs effectively. Don’t ask about the innocent people who are left behind the bars or who get bail but are left with scars being termed as criminal. The Bollywood filmmakers are there to create blockbusters on them and the nation will get one more hero to worship.

South City mall attracting visitors and traffic jam

On 16th Jan. 2008 Eastern India got its largest shopping mall, the South City Mall. This one million sq. ft. swanky mall is located on Prince Anwar Shah Road, just opposite Jodhpur Park. Situated in one of the prime and posh locations of south Kolkata, it was obvious that right from the first day it will be successful in attracting huge number of enthusiasts that include genuine shoppers, food lovers, window shoppers, couples and school and college bunking students. The ambience and centrally air conditioning system inside the mall is perfectly equipped to provide comfort to its visitors. But the road opposite the mall is not at all equipped or sufficient to take the heavy traffic jam, which is an immediate outcome of the mall. The Prince Anwar Shah Road that starts from the Prince Anwar Shah masjid and continues till the Jadavpur Police station was wide enough to handle normal traffic situation even in the busiest hours of the day. But the coming of the South City mall has posed a serious problem to the traffic condition on this road. During the peak hours of the day the road remains block for long time causing ample sound and air pollution in the area. The snarls and black smoke resulting out of the vehicles caught in the jam makes the environment like a war zone. Especially during the weekends, holidays and before any festive season the situation gets worse. Amazingly at this time one can witness a mad rush among the visitors to enter the mall. Large number of visitors throngs the mall like any other popular tourist spot in Kolkata. So many visitors also attract vendors, balloonwala, jhalmuriwala, phuchkawala, ice creamwala, panwala etc. near the mall. As a result everything comes to a halt opposite the mall. Even the traffic surgent who tries hard to manage the situation, fails miserably most of the time. One can often see school children looking anxiously out of their school bus and family members of serious patients sitting tensed inside an ambulance while caught in the jam. This particular road serve as a major connector with EM Bypass, Ruby General Hospital, Jadavpur University, South City College, Dhakuria, Golpark and Gariahat.

There is no doubt that the creators of this fabulous mall have been successful to draw large number of visitor everyday, but at the same time they have created lots of pain for this area. At the same time the traffic authority of Kolkata also needs to be blamed for their callous planning. However, till now it seems that everyone is happy with this mall, so not a single article or news can be witnessed regarding this issue in the local newspapers and T.V. channels.

But this happiness will only stay for a short time.