Freedom of Media…a boon or a curse

India is a free country, there are fundamental rights given to each individual and am sure we all are aware of them. A few years back, media used to be controlled by government and anything going into public used to have a confirmation from government body. Out came the reforms and media proved the world that its now in matured state and can handle things on its own. Hence, the term “Freedom of media” not only came into existence but also practiced.

All of a sudden channels emerged out with all sorts of names and correspondents. The thing that made me compose this piece of blog is something to do with the harassment that the media is doing in the name of news.

Its sometime now, since I got to get a fair view of things that are happening around me. These days almost all channels are sowing “breaking news” through out the day. If I ask you to think for a while about when you first saw the term “breaking news” on your television sets, am sure you would remember 9/11. But whats happening in todays day to day thing is that almost any happening around is shown as breaking news. Be it someone getting bashed up in hospital or a person being dragged on the road by police, or a CM not being recognized by his subordinates.

This not only sounds ridiculous but also gets the term “Breaking news” de-valued. Above all of this is a bigger issue of what to show and what not to show. When I return from office and switch on TV I get baffled by seeing someone riding a motorcycle while eating his food on it. I mean how can this be news, this is a stunt which should be shown separately. Again, when a husband leaves his wife and kids, its not the responsibility of media to get the punishment but rather it’s the duty of the judiciary. The only thing that media does in these cases is: -
They try to buy public sentiments for the deceased
They try to get a “biased” view on the topic and
Often the correspondents are seen talking almost the same thing over and over again.

I am a staunch believer of the fact that freedom should only be given to someone who is capable enough of handling it the right way. In a slightly different tone it would mean that freedom should be given to people who have maturity to handle it.

We all remember our fundamental rights but I don’t think even one of us remembers our fundamental duties. We always have believed in freedom of speech but what we forget is essentially the thing that our speech should not be derogatory or offensive.

Nonetheless, I was happy when I got all the private channels for I thought I would get a fair view of public sentiments over what the government shows on DD. But if I now have to look back upon, I think I was happy in the days of DD news. At least I didn’t had to see things as ridiculous as they show now.