If any of you were thinking about the Bangalore WTA Open or the India-SL ODI series or the Johnie Walker Gold Cup Polo tournament then I think you will belong to the majority of the people in India.
I was actually referring to the 33rd National Games which involved 11000 athletes
officials and volunteers participating to make it the biggest National Games ever.
The Games went off well without a hitch inspite of pre event terrorist threats and
official apathy.
But even though several records were broken and various sportsmen bettered their own times none of them got any media spotlight or the kind of media coverage expected for an event of this scale.Infact I did not see any of the news channels having even a paltry 5 minute slot to cover the National Games over the past 10 days.The only channel which was showcasing anything regarding the National Games was DD Sports which is a state owned TV channel.
None of the CNN-IBNs NDTVs or TimesNows had daily coverages of the National Games.
If I remember right the only kind of coverage with regards the National Games were the Opening and Closing ceremonies.Why,because they were cultural events involving some well known Bollywood faces.
A non event like Saif Ali Khan being hospitalised is shown as Breaking News with irritating news anchors asking Eye witnesses "What happened to Saif Ali Khan".."Do you think he is out of danger".."What were the peoples reaction when Saif complained of uneasiness ".."What was Saif wearing when he was hospitalised".."Do you think
Saif had eaten Bhelpuri ".
Are these issues of National concern which are to be reported as Breaking News.
These same bloody news channels feel that Rehan Poncha or Richa Mishra breaking 10 year old records in Swimming are not worth reporting.
Shah Rukh Khan's banian clad video of Kar le kar le is shown on News channels as if it were the Prime Ministers Address to the Nation where as
the same banian clad men from Services Boxing team winning gold models seems to be not news worthy.
Anna Nicole Smith's death was reported across all news channels with as much attention as deserving of a head of state.But how many people know that a bus carrying rowers from the Services team suffered an accident right opposite the Games complex in Guwahati and 20 fit athletes were injured before the start of the Games.These are the kind of things which are to be highlighted by the media
not the death of a gold digging model like Anna Nicole Smith.
I think if Indian sports is to reach greater levels then the media should start highlighting and focussing on other sports heroes as well and not only on our cricketing demi gods.Even if the sportsmen dont receive the kind of money associated with cricketers if the media showcases their achievements to the public then these
sportsmen get some kind of recognition for their efforts and sacrifices.
I hope the CNN-IBNs and NDTVs read this and start doing something to give a fillip to our beleagured athletes .
RongMon the Mascot of the National Games
The 33rd National Games
13 comments:
Well, I believe it is the public ignorance that has caused this..
Just tell me how many people push their children to get into athletics? How many parents sit with children and watch DD Sports?
How many people 'discuss' about athletics or the National Games? It is all in the public mindset. If people start discussin things like these, then it is sure to come to limelight. I believe it is not just the media that needs to change its attitude. But even us, including me, that needs to change our attitude towards other games.
hmmm it was well written to start with... you calling them "bloody" channels aptly presents the case as well as defense. It is we who had embraced capitalistic approach to everything - politics, academics, sports and obviously media.
And more importantly, as mentioned by "Prash" - this is in itself a full circle. It is question of priority parametered by capital interest. If saif ali khan's dizziness can keep millions glued to their channel then tell me why should any of these bloody channels show the raw talent that goes unnoticed. No is here to do philanthropy, either the media nor us... the media is made of bunch of ppl like us... lets face it, and try to think economic models to solve this dire issue of indian sports...
why don't u think of a economic solution rather than one based on utopian moral grounds...
Hi Pavan,
To say the least, I was not aware of the National games at all :-) .Indian media is no different to the media in the west nowadays where entertainment comes before information.They give the people what they want to read rather than what they need to know ..
nice read though & well written :-) do you have any links of the national games ?
Classic debate brought up here huh ?? I definitely agree that quality of news reporting is dead and buried below the burgeoning number of news channels today. I disagree, however,with some points of view, that public opinion influences media content. Just like you have pointed out, I feel that it is very much the other way round.
Vinay,
what do u mean? If I give u tons and tons of newspaper about lawn mowing procedures in United States, will you stay glued to that?
Hey Prashant, my reference is not only to this case, but news dissemination in general. All I meant was that the media is really the only window for the public to access information and public opinion is formed based on it. If people do not have access to some important information, (let alone it being unbiased) I do not see how any public opinion can be formed at all.
Totally agree that the national games wasnt given its due importance by many TV channels. It should have been given so.. These are the events which lay seeds to potential olympic medals . But since u have brought up this topic, I wud also like to say that the mentality of people is such that news like interests them less. How many ppl wud shy away from watching a celebrity on a news channel even if it reports that he/she farted at a public place? In the end that is what increases the viewership and generates revenue!! Sadly in the end it boils down to one thing...MONEY..BUSINESS..They have to survive.. They have to keep the shareholders happy..
You tell me even if a Rehan Poncha breaks his own record every national games, when it comes to international level, he comes a cropper... Its a sad story again on that scene.. This leads to a different topic altogether... I wud not like to discuss about that..
Though i agree with your viewpoint that few programmes of natl importance are not given due importance and few so called "unnecessary" incidents are highlighted more...they are driven not by choce but more by business needs. Am sure if anybody run a news channel like that he would do a similar thing..
Spare a thought for them.. Arent they reporting a few incidents like corruption, plight of farmers... victims of tragedies find their loved ones..help lines in times of tragedies.. sensationalising cases like Jessica Lal, Priyadarshini Mattoo, Bitti Mohanty...where else can you find such ones??? Does DD does all this stuff?? DD is driven more by the govt events, their highlightes.. Its sometimes a mouth piece of the Govt..This again may not be by choice.. The channel is INTENDED/DRIVEN by certain things..
ok ok am cutting my looong comment short!! :-)
Well I guess the argument here is about what sparks off public interest INITIALLY. The point here is about NOT TELECASTING sufficient/any information about a national event. The media plays a pivotal role, rather, it is the ONLY means of drawing the public's attention to an event, first by reporting it. In my opinion, the interest is then generated
in the public, which in turn sets up a cycle. True, everyone's in it for the money, but its a sorry
state of affairs if umpteen news channels give insufficient/no coverage on an event of National importance but compete with each other for getting "exclusive" coverage on the number of holes in SRK'S net banian !!
Vinay.. true...agreed that such unnecessary material is telecast on TVs...But you are also forgetting that they ALSO telecast a few of the stuff that i mentioned... see... u got to give them time...a few years before the television never had this much of impact as it is having now.. There is an improvement in the contect shown by them with equal deterioration in a few more programmes..
Even though u might consider them pecuniary, in order to relay things that u mentioned which might not generate that much revenue, they also need some buffer like these things which will generate revenue, right? We've got to accept that fact that always serious content like that cannot be telecast for reasons mentioned above.. This doesnt mean that premier issues of national interest should be neglected.. Am sure going forward, things like these will improve in the media...
I would like to quote a report from CNN-IBN a few months back which about a forgotten football captain of India who was selling tea for his living.. Due to this report Sunil Gavaskar foundation are helping him with his livelihood.. So, not that the media is sleeping on issues like this altogether.. They are doing their bit.. they need to be a bit more RESPONSIBLE on a few things though...
Well put Suhas!
Suhas has pretty much covered everything I wanted to say... I dont say that these Television channels are doin the right thing by not givin importance to other national events..But i do say that these commercial channels are here for Money and Money alone... and the public feeds them...
But yes I do agree with you Vinay when you say that media has an impact on the people and it is the only way to get publicity and public interest.
Ultimately, if we want things to change, we cant expect it to happen overnight. Already importance is given to events like Athletics, Tennis, Shooting, etc. Indian presence in Olympics and Commonwealth games is being noticed and followed by people and the numbers are increasing. The Government must put more effort in publicising the National events and advertising it rather than fighting for rights for Coverage for Cricket in DD Sports.
Every news channel i think has a business model in place.So what they do is they siphon the funds got from high revenue generating programmes to non revenue generating programs.That i show a news channel can conduct their sting operations and expository documentaries.So if you feel that economics is the only concern then I would say that their programming head is not doing a good job.The news channels claim to be the Voice of the Nation and they ar ethe ones who I think generate awareness and build public support for/against issues.I think they did a great job in the Jessica lal/Mattoo murder cases.But they should not stop there and bask in the limelight.I feel that they have a responsiblity of bringing in good news stories and they jolly well live upto it.If economics is the only concern then Coffee with Karan is all we are going to get.
We don't need a 24hrs news channel;I repeat, We don't need a 24hrs news channel;I repeat yet again ,We don't need a 24hrs news channel.
There is nothing "new" to report all through the day(Because as we all know,Real life is utterly boring sometimes),So the WiseGuys pad it up to make it day-aligned(24 hrs).
And one WiseGuy++ learns that the padding is generating more revenues,so they pad it even more.
Slowly they pad,pad and pad some more till the content is just ...thats right..A bloody goddamn PAD.
The term "News Channel" is a misnomer.
Good post.
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