My views about News

Is too much news bad news!

“10 died in serial blasts”-Reuters. “23 injured in rail sabotage”-PTI. “Lakshar-e-Toiba claims for bombing of civil air port”-Indian Express. “15 year girl joins Maoists”-TOI. “IM email claims ownership of Surat bombs”-TNN. “Sixty hurt as women gheraoed Tikabali camp”-The Hindu. “Biker gangs on the loose in Keonjhar”-Asian Age. “US shooting spree leaves 6 dead”-AFP. “Maoists blow up police jeep killing one”-IANS ... And the list continues.

Is the news agency going in the right direction? Is the information regarding the acts of terrorism helping the nation’s cause? Is the media not responsible enough, that it highlights the negative news and the negative people too much? Do we not recognise the media as the ‘fourth pillar’ of democracy? Yet it is forgetting that it’s not just a profit making organization but an institute which supports and helps in the advancement of nation, by keeping peace and harmony, by showing us what is right and telling us what to avoid, and by incorporating the method of ‘constructive criticism’.

Is it really necessary for the common man to know how stealthily the terrorists work and how successfully they carry out their plans? Is it necessary for us to know that the police was not successful in nabbing out the gangsters? Is it good for the confidence of the people to know that their country’s security measures are wanting, that it has been failed by a terrorist organization? Does it not scare us to death when we find an article of how innocent civilians are stabbed, hacked off and then eaten up? Do we not feel terror ‘reigning’ in the country when each day the front page of any ‘Daily’ comes up with a headline regarding a terror strike?

The terrorists are taking advantage of the soft corner that the media has for its sales and its publicity. Is it not what the terrorists want? : To terrorise each and every human living in this world. Is it not what the psycho (serial killers) want?: To get famous in the society (even for the wrong reasons). They are suffering from an identity crisis, and is this publicity about the killers not encouraging them? The terrorists strike ones, the media publishes the effects repeatedly. The report gives a detail analysis of the ‘method’ employed by the terror organization to execute their plans. It mentions so many instances of lapse in security, that the common man might start disrespecting his own country. He would be happy to move out and settle in a land of relative peace. Though it would be too harsh to claim that the media makes a hero out of a villain but it won’t be an exaggeration if I say that the media actually helps in enveloping the whole mankind in the dark blanket of terror. Yes, the media spreads the wrong news.

No, I am not in favour of the media sitting quiet and let the wrongs that are happening continue without any one’s knowledge so that nothing can be done. But for this, I don’t think that the common man needs to come in the picture. We, the people, are not powerful enough to counter the situation ourselves. We can only panic and grieve for what has happened, worsening the scenario further, and helping the terrorists’ cause. It’s all about the security and integrity of the nation in question, so what I think is, the media should bring the wrongs to the men in question: - the Police and the concerned authorities, not through the common newspaper that every one reads but directly through another media (May be through a website that can be accessed with a password that only the concerned authorities be provided with). They are the one who have been elected by the common man to look after the people. They are the one who should look into these serious matters and act swiftly and sensibly to counter the situation. This can be a way to curb terrorism as the main idea behind terror-strikes (to terrorise different regions of the society with just one strike) would be facing its end. But for this, the Government and the Police must act together with a common motto: to wipe out terror, if not terrorists.

A few days back, I saw a picture of a lady lying on the road in Delhi, bleeding profusely. The caption revealed that she is a victim of the recent serial blasts in Delhi and that she was fighting for life. Was it necessary for the photographer to take a picture of the scene when it would have been a much responsible job, had he initiated to help the victim to a nearby hospital? I am not targeting a particular news agency. I am just trying to bring to the front the personality of the media. It criticises others for not working according to what they talk about, but hasn’t the media forgotten the basic duties of human kind: - to help each other when in need and not to aggravate the past injuries. I appeal to the media to bring a change in their priorities.

The media might conduct a poll on this topic: “Is too much news bad news?”