Journalism falls down a deep hole ( July 26, 2006 )

Indian media seems to be in a dizzying downward spiral.

First, there is this article in the Times Of India, an example of what happens when you term googling for data as investigative journalism.

And now, reaching the nadir is a 48 hr Live Telecast of a kid falling down a hole, not on one, but all the major news channels in the nation.

One might make concessions for TOI's gaffe, given its positioning as a timepass newspaper, but actually telecasting live, an unfortunate kid's misery ( with commercial breaks, of course ) is atrocious, I think.

To an extent, I believe that the channels are playing to the galleries here. I mean, would all the channels give so much footage to this event if the producers did not believe that there is an audience lapping this up ? I dont think so...

I was arguing about this with a colleague, and he thinks that it is just a case of poor taste from the channel's side. He believes that the channels can actually shape and "improve" audience taste by feeding us with a healthy diet of wholesome content.

I tend to disagree. I feel that, unless you are the clear leader in the domain, you cannot afford to take such commercial risks and try out new stuff. When the competition is hot and the gap is small, the natural judgement call one makes, is to "play it safe". The risk just does not justify the rewards. So, in this case, when a few of the News Channels started primetime coverage of this item, the others ( especially the new ones which are still building their reputations ) had no choice but to follow suit.

I hope I am wrong, otherwise we might be seeing more breaking news of the same genre, maybe one of Laloo's buffaloes got lost, and the search is telecast live ?