On a morning when news media will be filled with the madness of victory after last night’s World Cup semi-final match, spare a thought for the 40 men trapped down a tunnel in Uttarakhand.
And while you’re at it, perhaps you can explain why it is that regional Hindi news channels—whose target audiences reside in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana—have only a glancing interest in this tragic incident when they devote themselves so ardently to Gaza, ‘Karmyogi Modi’, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the glory of Ayodhya?
How is it that they repeatedly telecast Israeli soldiers exploring the tunnels of Gaza but forget the tunnel so much closer to home?
We would have expected all news channels to focus more on the predicament of these stranded men but it’s almost criminal that channels like Network 10, News India, India Daily, Hindi Khabar haven’t been ‘live’ at the accident site, reporting on rescue efforts.
Meanwhile, their airwaves are filled with advertisements of the good work being done by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami or Yogi ji. One for sports proclaims: ‘Khelaga UP aage badhega UP’.
No channel has made the effort to track down the anxious families of the trapped workers—a few reported the protests by fellow workers, Wednesday but that’s it. In comparison, there are reams of footage, on all channels like Desh News, India Voice, Prime News, Har Khabar, Khabar Abhi Tak (never heard of them, have you?) of bereaved families in Gaza or Israel.
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Gaza to Noida
Well, perhaps it is asking too much of these channels which often don’t seem to know whether they are coming or going. One moment they’ll be running with the video of a hospital in Gaza where the Israeli Defence Force claims hostages are held by Hamas, next, they’ve rushed to Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh where a bride consumed poison allegedly because of dowry demands (Prime News).
One minute they’re in the Gaza ‘patti’ as they call it, the next they’re following wild elephants in Jharkhand (News 11).
On second, we’re listening to Swami Prasad Maurya from Samajwadi Party put his foot in his mouth with some distasteful comments on Goddess Lakshmi’s hands and the next it’s a hit and run in Noida (News India 1).
You will find these wild swings across all the channels. They truly believe in ‘Glocal’—from war in Gaza to accidents in Greater Noida (Prime News).
In fact, local crime and the war in Gaza are their favourite subjects. What is it about conflict in far away, unknown places that so fascinates Hindi news channels? We thought this was an obsession restricted to the leading Hindi news channels but no, all these regional Hindi channels are equally taken with war. We must assume that viewers in the Hindi heartland are equally smitten, first by Ukraine, now by Gaza.
Crime is a no-brainer: Crime sells everywhere. The regional news is full of local crimes or accidents— murder by tractor of a policeman (Hindi Khabar), a car accident in Haryana (Total TV), hit and run in Biuda (News India 1), another policeman killed in UP (Hindi Khabar), then came those wild elephants on the run (News 11), and a murder of an Ambala Roadways employee in Rohtak on Khabar Abhi Tak—yes, that is the name of the news channel.
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No time for politics
It’s only when the regional channels are done with all this that they move on to politics. However, there’s little local political news on them, barring speeches, comments or press conferences by chief ministers. The state-level political gamesmanship is sadly missing—for instance, we were told that CM Dhami is planning to introduce a bill for the Uniform Civil Code very soon but we didn’t hear any ‘charcha’ around it (News India).
However, there are plenty of election campaign speeches: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, UP CM Yogi Adityanth in MP, Union Minister Rajnath Singh in MP, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi in both states. There are also interviews with the public about the elections, but you don’t get a good sense of the trends on any channel.
The other crowd-pleaser, according to these news channels, is Ayodhya’s Ram Temple. There were promos for it (Prime News), there were excerpts from Yogi’s comments on it (Network 10), there were features on its grand opening: “The wait is over,” said News India and then launched into a long feature on the PM’s long history with Ayodhya.
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A khichdi of coverage
It’s a bit of khichdi, as if whatever was available went on air. There’s very little news about developments in each state, just stray items—for instance, too much traffic at the main crossroads in Ranchi (News 11). You don’t get a good idea of these states, in fact, you learn very little.
Perhaps this is because coverage is limited due to financial constraints. Smart anchors parade up and down the channel premises just like they do at other Hindi news channels but reporters seem few and far between—cheaper to show Gaza than Bageshwar.
That brings us to the advertising: besides state government advertisements and some campaign promos—‘Abki baar, BJP sarkar’ is still playing—few commercial advertisements support these channels. The one stand-out TVC is on Desh TV of Hotel Bansiwala for a ‘pampering stay’.
Channels with time on their hands such as Har Khabar spend it on a tarot card reader and a fortune teller. The latter told one unfortunate caller who asked about his career prospects, that his chances of getting a good job would take another three years.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)