We all know there is no news like bad news — it’s the best news of all. Odd,if you think about it: why is it that we do not enjoy watching news about good events unless it is a win for an Indian sports team or individual? Why is it that we all sat glued to the tsunami that inundated Japan but would never waste a minute on footage of a sunny Tokyo afternoon? Why is it that we love crime stories,the more gory the better?
It seems to be because we like to watch other people in trouble. There’s a sense of relief thank god it’s not me!– which is then transformed into a sense of superiority oh the poor dear,what a terrible thing to happen to him (or her)!! And that,in turn,makes us feel good or better about ourselves well we’re better people because we don’t do that. Thus,if you watched Times Now last week,and saw the hammering the Prime Minister of India was getting from anchor Arnab Goswami and his panel for not holding his press briefing before a live media audience,you felt sorry for Dr Manmohan Singh and relieved that you were sitting in the comfort of your home watching him get hammered. You may have felt anger,as I did,at the almost sneering tone of the discussion and the way Goswami & Co. were laughing at the PM,but you still enjoyed it in a vicarious almost sadistic way.
Or think of another bad piece of news: the Greece economic crisis. The country is almost bankrupt and there were riots in the capital,Athens,over possible austerity measures the government had to consider to stem the rot and attract IMF loans. You felt fleetingly sorry for them and then you were flooded with relief — oh good,our economy is not in such bad shape,we’re better off,our prospects are still bright.
Conversely,when we hear that the Chinese economy is growing in double digit percentage points — that is good news — it makes us feel sad,for ourselves. We want to be like them immediately and that makes us feel bad about ourselves,our economy,our poor infrastructure,our awful roads,the open drains — before you know it,you are spiralling down a staircase of negativity and into a deep depression about your country and your prospects.
That’s why,I believe,there is so much bad news on TV news.
