News channels: desperate journalism, a malady!

From the genesis till this very instant, this form of media has always been clamant. Not for they are the fastest or they divulge nothing but the obvious; but because they titillate the sensory faculty. True journalism has almost lost its identification. It's all about boosting your TRP's and making monetary gains out of them. "John ki jaaneman", "Mahi re", “India ki Sharmnak har”, "Ranbir ki khushi ka raaz", etc are some of the most sought after headlines that these channels are using to make money by victimizing the obsession of common masses to know about these cynosures. When Amitabh Bachan got well after his illness, it was reported as his "re-birth" communicating it like second Easter after Jesus's.

It seems these channels are going through excruciation of news shortage. Ethical journalism has succumbed to Yellow Journalism. Paparazzi has suddenly become so important that they are even deciding the life and death of people, enacting "godlike"- Lady Diana rocketed her sedan just to avoid these so called "journalists" peeping into the glasses of her car and eventually met her fate. Another example of how yellow journalism affects the fate of a person is Arushi’s murder case where her father was wrongly accused by the media which ruined his professional career. There are several other cases which media blows up just for the sake of earning moolah.

I understand the need of sensationalizing the news from business perspective, as it attracts more eyeballs, but at the same time anti-social elements, too, can be beneficiary for the activities of these channels. The channels conflagrate the sentiments of people by broadcasting every trivial altercation innumerable times. Even a brawl of two kids from two different establishments will be broadcasted until unless that wrangling decimate the accord and resurface itself in the form of communal riots; journalism at its best.  

With full credit to some of the ethical journalists, the entire community acknowledges mind-boggling coverage of Middle-east crisis, Iraq war, Afghanistan, Kargil, etc. During natural calamities these channels have always put in a commendable effort. Even in current situation in Uttarakhand, journalists have done exceedingly well in propagating the extent of calamity. But such a journalism is limited to few journalists and they can merely be counted on our finger tips.

Journalism is regarded as one of the pillars of democracy. Both media and the audience have a joint responsibility of keeping journalism up to the mark. I 'm not belittling the achievements of these news channels but I am just trying to give them the word of caution and making them realize their responsibility towards society and human existence on the whole.