Dear Media, What's With You?

The media is considered to be the fourth pillar of the society and a mirror of what’s brewing around us. Being a media student myself, we were taught that the media is the most powerful medium in today’s world that not only informs people but also helps them form opinions and come up with views of their own on matters that affect their life. But, seeing the current situation of the media and news reporting, I can only wonder what’s with the media these days!

The last time I wrote, I already talked about how sensational the media of today has become. The entire media is flooded with news reports and development stories of the Sheena Bora case. Since the past week, every time I read some news online or switch to a news channel on the TV, all I see is what Indrani Mukherjea said during her interrogation or what her ex husbands and present husband have commented on the case. Like there is nothing else happening in the country that the people would like to know or what is affecting our lives in some or the other way.

Sensationalism taking over like never before

Okay, every organization works with the sole purpose of amassing profits and there is nothing wrong with it. But, for an institution such as the media, it is really a question that what separates real news from sensationalism. There is a fine line between moral reporting and sensational reporting and it seems our media barons have really made profit their sole goal, forgetting the original purpose of news and reporting.

I have recently seen multiple posts on social media about people claiming that the Sheena Bora murder case has been given too much attention by the media. Or, I can say, the media is literally bombarding us with this only case and even the slightest of developments occurring in this. Okay, the entire world knows now who killed Sheena and plotted the murder of her brother. But, do we need to know what Ms. Indrani said to police in her interrogation or whether the police beat her up or whether she hated her daughter or not? The case has been undoubtedly getting huge space in newspapers, a huge time slot on the TV and great publicity in the digital media. Why? Because the people involved in the case are high-profile people (the so-called profile people I must say) who, the media wrongly thinks, affect our lives in certain ways. Since the people involved in the case are media barons, the news is receiving undue attention from the media.

And our media loves cooking too….

Yes, our media loves cooking…cooking stories and creating gossips by barging into the lives of celebrities and influential people, breaking their privacy. Recently, there have also been reports in the media about Arjun Rampal and his wife Mehr getting divorced since they were spotted at a court in Mumbai. Of course, I don’t need to tell you how stupid that sounds! The rumours were later rubbished off by the couple.

But, the question still persists…Is this what the media is meant for? Is earning profit so important to us that we forget our values and morals and cook up stories just for the sake of getting more TRPs and readers? Shouldn’t our media reconsider the norms of ethical reporting now?