Opinion God and Broken News
Look,look we are calm,said news TV.
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Despite the heavy deployment of talking heads,pre- and post-Ayodhya verdict there was relative calm in all the sensitive spots,that is,news TV studios. And thank heavens for that unusual atmosphere in the karmabhoomis of national broadcasters.
This is,of course,not to suggest for one minute that there were no trademark news TV moments. And the most intriguing was this: it appeared that news TV had anointed itself as the agency directly responsible for ensuring mature national conduct. There were so many appeals for calm on the small screen that it was ever so slightly exhausting. Times Nows India First,where celebrities with a capital C or a very,very small c asked all of us to stay calm,via prosaic prose or ornery poetry,was the most striking example. But even broadcasters like CNN-IBN and NDTV who didnt quite brand their appeals,liberally sprinkled their news menu with stay-calm video clips. Verdict-related chats saw anchors declaring their channel wont jump the gun and wont encourage speculation,as well as issuing quick clarifications that this or that news byte was simply the point of view of lawyers of one side. When Ravi Shankar Prasad and CNN-IBN had a slightly less-than-calm exchange,CNN-IBN said,with a marked degree of emphasis,that it had approached the Ayodhya story with the aim of keeping everything calm. So,I think you will agree with my Ayodhya verdict: The structure of Ayodhya TV journalism was undisputedly one of formal or all but formal appeals and advocacies for national calm.
But what lies beneath this undisputed structure? Could it be the ruins of 26/11 TV news coverage? Yes,I know,I am speculating. But please stay calm; although,it goes without saying,you are most welcome should you want to demolish my argument. Post-26/11 is when general news channels first heard extensive and focused national chatter on what had been till then fragmented and episodic conversations on TV journalisms excesses. The point is,of course,not that since then news TV has looked like the broadcast version of EPW. Indeed,on 26/11s first anniversary in 2009,broadcasters were at it again: they organised candle-light gatherings,said fighting terror is not a one-night stand (NDTV),asked P Chidambaram why ordinary people cant get involved in security management (CNN-IBN); there was much,much more.
However,all that 26/11 mad hatter memorialisation and many subsequent decidedly non-calm episodes of TV journalism notwithstanding,I think something had hit home. Of course,the very nature of the Ayodhya verdict story imposed its own constraints. But that doesnt fully explain why news TV decided it was more or less its job,its remit,to ensure temperatures dont rise. Why should any section of the media feel so self-consciously responsible vis-a-vis one big news story? Isnt that responsibility subsumed in the daily news business of a mature media? Is the answer therefore partly to do with news TVs self-recognition that at least on some big,sensitive stories it needs to be more mature? That the fledgling broadcast regulator the News Broadcasters Association had issued a guideline is neither here nor there. News TV wasnt being merely restrained,it was saying,indeed advertising,look,look,we are being restrained,so all of you out there,keep it cool as well. Is this is an interesting case of a one-time,de facto self-admission being marketed as an all-time high in virtuousness?
I am quite excited about this news TVs stay calm business. Because I am thinking: will there be peace in and around the sanctum sanctorum news TV studio only if the news involves God? Should we therefore start a new religious movement,a movement against broken news,whose followers declare their sentiments have been hurt every time news TV isnt staying calm? Or should we argue that the divine force against broken news resides within each of us. We simply need to invoke Him/Her better. Please speculate.
saubhik.chakrabarti@expressindia.com
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