When television news moved from animals to vegetables—the perfunctory, almost non-existent reportage on the forest commission’s assessment of tiger reserves to the kitchen wall to kitchen wall coverage of tomato prices—I had told myself two things. 1. Don’t be impatient coming across the umpty-umpth close up shot of tomatoes-in-a-wok or the umpty-umpth panning shot of a city vegetable market. Don’t grip the TV remote hard when clearly middle-class Delhi'ites and Mumbaikars are allowed by unquestioning TV reporters to act as if costlier veggies mean life as they know have come to an end (“I think I’ll stop eating,” was one quote. “I don’t make tomato soup any more,” was another). Don’t be too surprised if TV news didn’t interview too many of those Indians for whom a changed food budget can actually change lives (the poor, that is, not TV’s aam admi). Don’t expect TV political correspondents to force politicians to say something intelligible (Tom Vaddakan of the Congress saying aam admi thrice in a sentence that was one of the poorest advertisements for his party; the BJP’s Prakash Javadekar saying rising prices “were a loot” and thereby proving that tomatoes will have to hit Rs 145 a kg before his party can mount an effective campaign.).2. I had also told myself that at some point, one of the general news channels would traverse the distance from tomato soup to economics. That if rising prices were indeed bothering the classes that form the bulk of TV news consumers, newsrooms would feel compelled to give the big picture, simplify the admittedly complex interplay of economic forces—monetary policy, fiscal policy, production constraints, etc—that determine prices. Delhi is blessed with sharp, media savvy economists who can put together an easy-to-understand chart on inflation. Bung that on the screen, let the anchor do some homework and take it from there.I ended the week feeling like an ignored tomato on a vegetable cart. And I received these by way of insights. NDTV told me that as vegetables move from growers via wholesalers to retailers, their prices increase. Wow, I didn’t know that. Times Now breathlessly reported that as prices of essentials go up, limited budget consumers’ demand for “luxuries” go down. Really? Gosh! CNN-IBN showed me a family willing to undergo incredible privations—an unnerving montage of mum, dad and kids grinning, hugging and looking downcast—just to be able to tell the world about its budget.Spending heads for the CNN-IBN family include cable TV rentals for the girl and milk for the boy. No matter where inflation reaches, son, never give up milk for TV.
