Making Sense Of The News!

Yes, guess we need to be thankful these days that we don't exchange the word news for "nonsense"....truly what is it that defines news in this day of the electronic media revolution and online journalism. There used to be a time when we were told to go out and find hard news stories - "When a dog bites a man it is not news, remember the news element comes in when man bites dog".......one used to simply chuckle and go on one's way wondering what on earth was the matter with a crazy profession where people waited for the incredulous to happen.....after all wasn't truth often stranger than fiction anyway? Well, it would certainly appear so in 21st Century India, where I am scribbling from these days.....there're about 20 different news channels, including the vernacular ones (and woe betide that we leave them behind!)....the last couple of days have been a stunning case in point that it is only the negative news stories that make for sensational press, and ensure air time.....Vishwananthan Anand being slighted by the HRD Ministry when a South Indian University had proposed his name for an honorary doctorate....and the subsequent machinations in the world of red tape and real politik, monopolised the media frenzy when it came to being affronted....the media channels appeared more chagrined than diplomatic, suave Vishy Anand, who true to his reputation as a man of few words had little to say on the incident except that he wanted his country back, and to politely refuse the doctorate, which the HRD Ministry managed to proffer as a delayed bit of troubleshooting.....of course to the average man on the street, who was completely unaware of what the whole brouhaha was about in the first place, and why on earth the babus at the HRD were asking for proof of the Midas of Madras' (that's Anand's sobriquet by the way for the uninitiated)......the whole incident seemed completely bizzare! Atleast the only good thing to come of it seems to be the temporary repreive that it seems to have given the Common Wealth Games, which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the last couple of months, first thanks to all the corruption scandals linked to it, then for the poor infrstructural shape that the national capital was in a month prior to the spectacle thanks to the incessant rains and flooding, and also for all the international names of top athletes and sportspeople that were dropping like flies from the list of expected participants initially drawn up. When will the powers-that-be realise that only where there's smoke is there a fire for starters....if we keep ensuring that the country is in the news for all the wrong reasons, then perhaps we should not be too surprised that India and Indians everywhere are being much maligned and looked down upon by the rest of the world....why on earth can the press and media stop trying to grab eyeballs and TRP's for a change, and get seriously into the act of building the nation, or helping it to thrive? Is that really so "un-doable" after all for a billion-and-a-half people (and still counting) to achieve if they really want to see India become an economic powerhouse by 2050, as predicted at Davos? Why are we sitting there - prisoners to our idiot boxes, and not helping to define what news and information content we would like to see? Surely if we set the agenda, then the news emananting from India, about India, need not be all bad...surely we can find something nice to say about the weather, the state of the organising committee, the indefatigable will of the average hard-working Indian, who struggles against all odds, in what seems a futile battle to improve his lot and put food on the gtable, while aspiring to lift himself and his family from the quagmire to a decent standard of life......surely somewhere out there there are stories that the masochistic media can find of bravery and courage, of people saving the lives of total strangers, of the great economic and social benefits that hosting the Common Wealth Games can have for India....little things that warm the cockles of our hearts.....for, hey guys, here's a news flash....we are human beings after all, not machines, and it feels good sometimes to see, hear and believe in our humanity!