In radio times we dreamt of a television era when all affairs public
will be transparent and no one can hide anything from the eyes of
cameras. When black and white televisions dawned, we thought there is
too much grey area and everything will be captured in color
televisions. And finally the era of color televisions reached India
only to remind the Indians that it is not the camera that is distorting
truth but the cameramen who have remained unchanged. From color of
television the focus is now shifting to color of the TV channel in
contemporary India. Each channel has a dominating color reflecting the
interests of its owners (or masters) and all that is aired get soaked in
its color. One thing is very clear in the current scenario – that you
will never come to know the truth or even a fraction of it if you are
watching only one channel regularly. The best example of this is the
case of Keralites with about a dozen of Malayalam channels.
The air of God’s Own Country is a virtual battlefield of TV signals.
Asianet, Surya, Kairali, Jeevan, Amrita, Kairali, India Vision etc.,
have already occupied their own spaces and more feasibility reports are
in the pipeline. Though the main audience for all these channels reside
within Kerala, a powerful segment is the NRKs (Non-Resident Keralites)
who are spread all over the globe. Unlike any other state in India, the
contribution and control on public affairs in Kerala by the
non-residents is beyond anyone’s imagination. The coloring agents in
the TV industry are the powerful NRKs who hold the levers of cash-flow
into the industry. If there is one part of India which will attract the
colonisers again, it is undoubtedly Kerala. It is in this context that
TV channels become significant and many are already showing their true
colors.
Color Identification
Color identification of the TV channels is a simple exercise for anyone
watching the various TV channels regularly for news on current events.
It becomes clear in no time that what we hear from the different
channels are actually their opinions on the events and not facts per se.
This becomes so very obvious if we analyse events from our own area,
about which we have first hand information. Take the same incident and
analyse the scrolling news line on any three channels. The color of the
channel becomes clear instantly. If you still have doubts, keep doing
the same for a couple of days and analyse the prioritisation of news
items in the daily bulletins. In any case, color identification of any
TV channel is not an expert’s work anymore. At one time it was difficult
in the case of print media. But over the years, each and every
established newspaper has exposed their true colors themselves. Barring
outstanding personalities like Ramnath Goenka, all others have always
lived upto the expectations of their color bands. The simple fact that
all established newspapers are stagnating on their subscriptions proves
this point beyond any doubt. If at all their readerships grow, it is
only in direct relation to the growth of their ‘own’ population.
The last two months have been a colorful period for the TV channels in
Malayalam. If it was butchering of Raman Kutty Maniappan in Afghanistan
that dominated the news in one channel, it was the ‘friendly’ custody by
American forces of Sijo Jose in Iraq that stirred the conscience of the
owners of another channel. The next one is still debating on the right
and wrong of Naushad’s potential blinding in Saudi Arabia. Yet another
one was concerned only about the electoral victory of its owners and the
run upto an international congress on how to manage Kerala for the next
10 years without having been elected. Color of the channel was splashed
all over the programs and the committed viewers were reminded of their
mental retardation again and again.
Colorful Games
It is always interesting to watch the games channels play. Media gurus
in each channel lay great stress on the Machiavellian dictum of
repeating a lie hundred times to make the viewers believe in it. They
seem to be convinced that people can be made to believe even a new
revelation about suicide in the case of an established killing. The
hundreds of stories in each TV channel about horrific incidents in the
past are interesting to watch for the color oozing out in each version.
Ultimately everything depends on which side of the story they want to
defend. If the channel color matches with that of the killed, the
killer and his people are painted dark. And if the color matches that
of the killer, the best we can expect is a story on how the evil
circumstances forced the poor man to turn a killer or a tangential twist
to the whole incident. Cut throat competition has seen the various TV
channels passing their own final verdicts on the very day of incident in
present day Kerala. The truth might come out only much late and then it
is only a by-line in one of their afternoon news bulletins.
Another colorful pattern is in coining of news headlines by the
colorful channels. As a typical example, whenever a road accident
happens during Sabarimala season, the headlines in various TV channels
would read “Devotees of Ayyappa meet with tragedy”, “Accident-prone
Sabarimala season takes its toll”, “Careless drive to death” etc. Now
everyone in Kerala can easily identify which headline would come in
which TV channel. But for the curious outsiders the message is very
clear. The news editor is not only paid to gather news but also to
propagate it further down strictly in line with the owner’s agenda. All
incidents, tragic or comic, become tools in this colorful game is the
tragedy of Indian TV media of today.
Predictable End
Politicians, lawyers, editors and teachers were highly respected in a
not so distant past in India. The first ones lost their shine in no time
thanks to their deplorable performance in the arena of electoral
politics. Lawyers lost their stature when they strayed away from their
field and started misusing their oratorical skills in favour of the
wicked. Teachers could carry on for some more time. But they too painted
themselves black when some among them started asking for illegitimate
favours from their own students. And now editors are maligning
themselves by using colorful pens to script programs and news items to
please their owners and not the public. Any media person who
underestimates the intelligence of the majority mass is risking his
reputation as a credible source of information. ‘Colored’ editors will
invariably end with a colorless career.
The colorful TV channels who claim record viewers are in a similar
state. However committed a viewer is, his or her rationality will never
allow eternal subjugation. The majority will ultimately see through the
true colors of the channel owners. Color television may still be liked
because of the completeness of coverage compared to a black and white
model. But all intelligent and rational viewers would definitely insist
on seeing the news presented in black and white. Those who stick to
their colors will have only a captive audience to view their
sub-standard programs and the channel will bust in no time draining all
the colors in store.
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