Role of Media

1-  One grey issue needs our attention :  The real tragedy of the media’s surrender to the state is that journalists have stopped reading books, especially history books. Speaking at the Fifth Al Jazeera annual forum Robert Fisk laments the state driven semantics that take over and alter grave debates:  Journalism and 'the words of power' ;

2- Media does not act out of grief or out of some sense of compulsion at the death of any celebrity. Media is merely pandering to the lowest common denominator for commercial considerations as the stories that combine sex, glamour and death find a ready market. So its like justification of drug peddler for giving drugs to victims as given by media on defencing its coverage of sensational gossips and celebrity lifestyles.

3- Let me remind you, there is a public service broadcast also in this mob of news channels for serving citizens of this  nation. That is called Prasar Bharati.

B G Verghesse covers necessity of public service broadcaster in telling news :What ails Prasar Bharati ?

The “public” it serves embraces the entire diversity and plurality of India, men and women, aged and children, rural and urban, tribal and dalit, illiterate and elites, the differently-abled and disadvantaged, belonging to all regions and professing all the multifarious languages and cultures of India. Its role is to inform, educate, empower and entertain these many publics, not privileging any above all others.

Further, he focus on the difference of commercial and public broadcaster:
Commercial broadcasters are perforce dependant on ratings and necessarily compete for audiences that relate to the advertising that sustains them. They therefore primarily woo the “customer” and not the “citizen” who, for the most part, still lives below or perilously above the poverty line. The public service broadcaster's duty on the other hand is first and foremost towards the citizens of India, many of whom live in remote or backward areas, experience myriad difficulties and exploitation, speak “minority” languages and dialects and seek knowledge and empowerment to fulfill their varied needs and aspirations. There is no other agency to fulfill this supreme obligation. A nationalized broadcaster, serving the Union government of the day (for even the State governments and panchayat institutions have been deliberately excluded) simply does not fit the bill.

Reputed Journalist, P Sainath puts that responsibility if media is - to signal the weakness in society. That remains a minimum duty of a decent press. A society that does not itself, cannot cope. The focus is on the spectacular. The long term trends that spell chaos does not make good copy.

The 400 Blows

This is mine 400th post on the 'Sparsh'. It’s an eve of expression and celebration for me. I have a long journey of “unlearning" prejudices to gain insight of human nature. Also, the explosion of the blog phenomenon has exposed youths like me to a multitude of opinions. I had read, written and discussed about social, economic, and political opinions of importance and enjoyed sharing views on cinema.

I read several bloggers but follow ritually for new updates on these blogs : Nimmy, Nimmy2, Indianhomemaker, Rashmi Bansal, Atanu Dey, Devinder Sharma, TheSouthAsianIdea, Prof Abi, Sameer Bhat, anindianmuslim , Winds From The East , Calamur Harini, Vikram V Garg, Diptakirti, aPocRyPHaL, Anu, The Rational Fool, Nita, The Religious Policeman, kufr, Roshmi, Jaya, Santosh Desai ,  joie de vivre and Rajjo;

I read and like works of these Public Figures : Osho, Nadeem F. Paracha, Bill Maher, Christopher Hitchens , Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, P. Sainath, Namit Arora and Pankaj Mishra ;

We as a whole shun social scientists but there is a deep urge among many to understand what is wrong with our country and society. There is a need to examine deeper causes because denial and inertia are easier than rational, analytical debate. We need  writers who can bravely give voice to what people had been wishing- but not daring to say for many a year. I aspire for that role.

I love Internet as it has been able to blow lid on the cheating systems set in pre Internet era. Internet gives me blog space to publish my views without any censor. Internet is a wonderful place and offers endless opportunities for individuals to connect with the rest of the world. So why restrict yourself to the boundaries of ours geographic region? Step out and explore.

I enjoyed writing all these four hundred posts. I view each blog post as a blow to the moral fabric of society by an individual. I am in the search for the elusive individual buried behind the cultural , national, colonial and global sentiment. This blog is now a crazy obsession, its about finding a new instrument true to the one's spirit. I will write more and more till there is passion and curiosity kicking inside me...

Religulous

I have became a big appreciator of Bill Maher for his commentary on various social, political and religious issues. Here is his brilliant take on apocalyptic vision of religion in the must watch documentary Religulous:

It seems peaceful, but this is where a lot of people believe the world will end. The irony of religion is that because of its power to divert man to destructive courses, the world could actually come to an end. The plain fact is, religion must die for mankind to live. The hour is getting very late to be able to indulge in having in key decisions made by religious people. By irrationalists, by those who would steer the ship of state not by a compass, but by the equivalent of reading the entrails of a chicken. George Bush prayed a lot about Iraq, but he didn't learn a lot about it.

Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about. And those who preach faith, and enable and elevate it are intellectual slaveholders, keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has spawned and justified so much lunacy and destruction. Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don't have all the answers to think that they do.

Most people would think it's wonderful when someone says, "I'm willing, Lord! I'll do whatever you want me to do!" Except that since there are no gods actually talking to us, that void is filled in by people with their own corruptions and limitations and agendas. And anyone who tells you they know, they just know what happens when you die, I promise you, you don't. How can I be so sure? Because I don't know, and you do not possess mental powers that I do not. The only appropriate attitude for man to have about the big questions is not the arrogant certitude that is the hallmark of religion, but doubt. Doubt is humble, and that's what man needs to be, considering that human history is just a litany of getting shit dead wrong.

This is why rational people, anti-religionists, must end their timidity and come out of the closet and assert themselves. And those who consider themselves only moderately religious really need to look in the mirror and realize that the solace and comfort that religion brings you actually comes at a terrible price. If you belonged to a political party or a social club that was tied to as much bigotry, misogyny, homophobia, violence, and sheer ignorance as religion is, you'd resign in protest. To do otherwise is to be an enabler, a mafia wife, for the true devils of extremism that draw their legitimacy from the billions of their fellow travelers. If the world does come to an end here, or wherever, or if it limps into the future, decimated by the effects of religion-inspired nuclear terrorism, let's remember what the real problem was that we learned how to precipitate mass death before we got past the neurological disorder of wishing for it. That's it. Grow up or die.