By reducing its consumption of traditional print publications & TV news, the audience is rejecting current content, which just promotes a personality cult.
Not many people remember that three decades ago, almost to the day, state broadcaster Doordarshan was ridiculed and even condemned by the press for behaving like ‘Rajiv Darshan’!
At the time, there was no other TV channel in India, the number of TV sets in the country was limited, and only the urban upper-middle class had colour TVs. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was ridiculed by the opposition and the press for projecting himself so much.
It had taken just about three years for him to lose his unprecedented popular appeal (winning 404 seats in the then-533 member Lok Sabha), his ‘Mr Clean’ moniker, and the image of Camelot (the same that John F. Kennedy had in the 1960s in the US).
In the three decades since, the media revolution has swept the country. Now, nearly 80 per cent of the population has access to TV, and in the last decade, mobile-internet-social media have spread like a prairie fire (incidentally, it was Rajiv who rang in the computer era in India). There are nearly a thousand TV channels, and it’s been about a quarter of a century since Doordarshan lost its monopoly. News channels alone account for nearly 300 of these, including stations in all local languages.
On all these channels, there is incessant Modi Darshan. His speeches, from New Delhi to New York, or from Lucknow to London, as well as all his election rallies are televised live and repeated 24×7. All channels, all of All India Radio’s state units, as well as FM channels are under a sort of obligation to air his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ every month, as also his speeches in Parliament or elsewhere. The print media too has begun to crawl, if not prostrate, before this ubiquitous (and narcissistic) self-proclaimed messiah. This nationwide media omnipresence of the Prime Minister has not generated criticism like it did at the time of ‘Rajiv Darshan’ in the late eighties.
Interestingly, columnists in the press and commentators on the shouting panels in TV debates, ring-mastered by the equally narcissist anchors, have not questioned this obscene personality cult. The same self-styled educated urban intelligentsia was so vociferously critical of Rajiv, and before that, of Indira Gandhi for the promotion of such a cult, which, they argued, “distorted” and “destabilised” democracy. Their liberal sensibilities expressed deep revulsion and concern for India’s democratic ethos then, when there was no such monstrous media presence.
Have these people surrendered their sensibilities to the powers that be, or were they fake concerns back then; these people now feel absolutely comfortable in this multi-media driven glorification of the personality of the Prime Minister. With the exceptions like Ram Jethmalani, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie, and a few others, there are hardly any prominent members of the political class from any party who have expressed disgust with cult-culture. There is no resistance to this media-led authoritarianism from the political, cultural, or intellectual class. They too have failed the people and democracy.
However, a kind of passive resistance is building up from the people. More and more people complain these days that there is nothing they learn from news broadcasts. They are getting fed up with the panel discussions, as they neither grasp what the debate is about, nor who is saying what. One comes across many normal viewers saying that they have stopped watching news channels or debates. In any case, they get their news on their mobile phones, and more varied commentary on social media. Moreover, they can interact on the net, which they cannot on TV channels, except as responses to the Anchor-Fuhrer’s rhetorical questions.
There is also concern expressed in newspapers’ editorial and marketing departments that whatever may be the print order and circulation of the paper, readership is becoming indifferent and unresponsive. Not only among the young, but also among those who are old or middle-aged. People have less time to spend on dailies or magazines or TV, as a lot of time is taken up by mobile phones. There is a sharp decline in news magazine circulation too. What’s more, people also loudly exclaim—what is there to read or watch anyway?
It is ironic, indeed, that the so called media-communication revolution should also give rise to information illiteracy among the educated. This is a wake-up call for the traditional press and TV media. Their audience has become the whistle-blower.
Mr. ketkar is honest in his expression of media, but the fact is, public in general, still they are acting like toddlers of democracy, unaware of their rights and responsibilities without knowing what they want.
Now I doubt our well educated journalists/medias do they know what they want? Are they concerned about our country’s future except very few including our politicians. God bless India and it’s voters.
JUST LIKE NDTV ????
Don’t you visit these TV debates often ??
Unlike print media, electronic media does not depend upon revenue generated from advertisements sourced from various government departments and corporations. Electronic media survives on advertisements garnered mostly from private sector. Private sector advertising budget is spent on the basis of TRP potential of a programme on a channel. It also depends upon location and perceived purchasing power of viewership. This explains higher volume of revenue generated by some of the private channels and poor show by DD. The channels espousing the cause of so called Secular Leftisr Liberal brigade need to introspect and find reasons for their lacklustre performance in garnering eyeballs. A few channels who are neck deep in the business of Modimania also need to be careful. Media duty is not only to pander to the prevailing public mood but also to educate
Media lost it credibility long back in 2014 when it took sides with govt glorifying it’s every tiny so called achievement and denying even the biggest achievements of the opposition. In trying to take sides and glorify certain individuals media has lost its very purpose .
The growing apathy and lack of trust in media, especially in TV is not good for a democracy which is also a developing nation. Fortunately people still have faith in the old print media such as Hindu, Outlook etc. But when the people stop believing in democracy and its 4 pillars, people will step into streets. That is what caused Arab Spring and similar revolutions. This where the media has a very important role to fulfill. When media appropriately represents the common man, they feel that their voices are carried to the executive. But when common man perceives a collusion between all pillars and feel neglected or ignored, it will uproot all 4 pillars from the society.