Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Trouble Me. Perfect strangers shower yours truly with reproaches, holding you personally responsible for the idiocy on the box: 8220;that show, that film, woh ad, were disgusting! Don8217;t they trouble you?8221; Surely, surely.
For instance, it 8220;troubles me8221; that Pallavi Joshi has to do more than lie on the hospital bed without blinking Alpviram, Sony. The doctors now discover that the comatose girl has been impregnated there8217;s no delicate way of saying it. The life within her will revive Pallavi. She and we will learn that the baby is the result of a rape. Doesn8217;t it trouble you that TV producers are so bereft of ideas, they have to romance perversity?
It troubles me that we must watch must we? Shikha Swaroop and Shekhar Suman behaving like a couple of actors acting like a couple of crazies Amar Prem, Zee at 3.30pm. Not to say that it8217;s gung-ho to behave like lunatics when the moon is out; just that the afternoon is hardly the occasion for channels to appear deranged.
It troubles me that the United States Senate has decided to examine the case for Clinton8217;s impeachment though not out of any sympathy for the cigar-lover or concern for the American state. President Nixon8217;s impeachment hearings were telecast live on American TV. They were rivetting; no stone was left unturned. Between them, the Republicans and the Democrats, scrutinised each stray pebble of information as if they8217;d stumbled upon an undiscovered prehistoric relic. Since history has a bad habit of repeating itself, chances are there will be a live telecast of the hearings, that we will be subjected to Monica8217;s oral examination in the Oval office. Again. Senators claim this is about lies not sex; we know how often the former is simply a cover-up for the latter. Does that not trouble you?
It troubles me that Mr Vijay Mallya, neatly folded within the flaps of a double-breasted suit, is promoting his McDowell8217;s whisky, while ostensibly warning us against drinking and driving. In a TV commercial, issued in the public interest, Mr.Mallya claims he doesn8217;t drive when he drinks 8212; nor should you. Not because you may die. Oh dear me no, nothing as fatal as that. No, he wants 8220;you to enjoy them drinks sensibly ? as long as you can 8230;because good fun and good sense go together8221;. Really? All the while, McDowell8217;s logo hovers over his head or some such like a halo.
It troubles me that a couple of youngsters, who produce a perfectly horrible8217; serial Woh, Zee that would loosen the sphincter muscles faster than a suppository, claim it is performing a public service, too! 8220;A few parents have told us that8230;they now induce their kids to either eat or sleep by saying the joker Woh will enter your room and haunt you!8221; G magazine. It troubles me that one of them thinks boys who find the serial scary are 8220;sissies8221;.
It troubles me that Prasar Bharati hasn8217;t yet acquired new Board members and DD a DG. It8217;s troubling everyone who has anything to do with DD. A headless monster is far scarier than a hydra-headed one. Surely it cannot take so long to find appropriate 8212; sorry that has become a dirty word 8212; suitable persons for the jobs? We are told that the three-member selection committee has met, finally; we must wait and see if the appointments trouble us.
Other people8217;s socks trouble me. DD2 telecast the tennis Grand Slam Cup so did STAR Sports. The most unusual shot ! was of Martina Hingis8217; shoes and socks. During a changeover, she stripped both off. The commentator, helpfully, explained it was good to possess spare pairs because tennis was sweaty business you-don8217;t-say?. Whereupon the TV camera zeroed in on the soggy articles 8212; so close, you had to hold your nose.
Finally, what troubles me the most is that inspite of being so troubled by what I see, I keep looking for more trouble.
