– Manisha Gupta : New Delhi-based Trainer & Consultant
Whether you switch to news channel 1 or 10 or 100 or any other number, there’s only one caption that’ll catch your eye. And that is – “Breaking News”. Whether it is about a car running without a driver or a child trapped feet under the ground in a well or crossfire between two superstars or a scandal involving some well known personality or a natural calamity or a man-made disaster like bomb blasts or heinous murders etc. It is breaking news at break neck speed and ‘break-head’ repetition that will glare at you from all news channels. And whatever be the news in question, it is brought to you with the same energy, excitement and enthusiasm.
Now isn’t this really heart breaking? Because when you are bringing out news about a juicy scandal or a squabble involving high profile people or about something as mysterious as a “car without a driver”, your enthusiasm and excitement are but natural because of the nature of the news. But when you are bringing news about a natural calamity or about a gruesome murder or killings or serial bomb blasts killing and injuring lives apart from other destruction of property, how can you even dream of delivering that news with the same enthusiasm? And every news channel wants all viewers glued to “their” channel for that news and so they bring out and show repeatedly, the goriest details and the most heart rending photos or scenes from the site of the incident?
Showing the most gruesome and bloody site again and again, showing the worst hit/injured victim’s close ups and repeatedly narrating how the bombs ripped apart somebody’s body is itself awesome. Again and again excitedly showing how an accident occurred, how badly the victim was hurt /died and questioning his family and relatives on how they feel at the moment?
Come on, somebody has just lost a family member / relative and you want to use his emotions of the moment to increase your TRPs? Isn’t this a most insensitive way of earning TRPs? How can one even think of such an inhuman and heartless gesture? You want to earn ratings even in someone’s life shattering tragedy?
Also, like in the Arushi murder case, the news channels have literally glamourized the murder, contemplating various relationships between various characters involved, maligning and character assassinating at the first hint of a possibility and reversing their claim the very next day as per the circumstances.
I guess it is high time “somebody” do “something” about such insensitive, breaking news breaking the hearts of viewers across the nation. Shouldn’t there be a sort of a “code of conduct” for ‘news breakers’? Shouldn’t they be delivering such tragic news with a soft heart, composed tone sensitive to the item being brought to the viewers? Shouldn’t they make people feel better rather than make them feel more tense and angry? Shouldn’t they for once forget whether and how many viewers are going to be watching “their channel” news and focus more on giving the necessary details relevant and more importantly urgent for the affected ones or relatives of victims? Shouldn’t they show and feel sympathy and forget about “how well” they’re breaking the tragic news but focus on how well they can make the viewers feel comfortable in the face of such tragedy?
