If one has time to spare, the required level of tolerance and an interest in surfing through television channels at different times of the day, those giving logical thought will notice the striking effects of the spurt in the number of 24-hour television news and recreational channels with a range of issues being debated upon and broadcast from different perspectives by the regional, national and international channels.
One of the consequences of this is that the average consumer of television can now choose from a given set of issues to decide what constitute ‘burning’ issues for them or which televised item is of little consequence. It may seem as if the viewers’ choice is deciding which issues are to be raised with the establishment and the manner - aggressive, subdued or mixed - in which information or explanation is to be sought from the person concerned. One ‘popular’ TV journalist pursues the stance of appearing righteously angered while ‘representing’ the nation in confronting those being questioned with repetitive bombastic expressions while also remembering now and then to emphatically display statistics in a theatrical manner to claim its market supremacy over other news channels.
One may like or hate such an approach/news channel but it won’t be ignored especially by the other television journalists/anchors who now routinely refer negatively to the ‘righteously angry’ news show host with a tendency to exercise his vocal chords at decibel levels and tones generally not associated with logical dialogue. A person talking in a public place as loudly with gesticulations as the popular news anchor might be viewed as daft, troubled or ill mannered by the folks around. However, such an approach and its variants are being used successfully by many especially in the electronic media apparently boosting viewership.
The considerable rise in number of channels and the broadcasting styles of various channels may have seemed silly or irksome if imagined during the era dominated by comparatively sedate and phonetically sound Hindi and English news readers of Doordarshan. The intention here is not to present my biased view of the electronic media at a time when there are still some decently entertaining and informative options available for those seeking news or entertainment on a screen. Along with the quantitative and qualitative change more evident in television media, spread of social media has further expanded the range of issues and influenced perception in the public sphere.
So, while someone may consider the recent disturbance at Jawaharlal Nehru University to be a major burning issue, there will also be many either unaware of uninterested in JNU, more concerned with life and death issues like the incidence of climate change, agricultural damage and farmer suicides in different Indian States or the continued migration of people from the mountainous regions of U’khand to the plains. There will also be many who will remain least interested in most of the news on television or print along with those who regularly consume news through various media without being really affected by information on major issues that involve and affect the public in many ways. Generally speaking, using generalisation to substantiate varied claims may be an illogical and unsound practice with scope for misinformation or influencing general public perception through skewed presentation of information and ideas. Even so, it would not be incorrect to State that the broadcast of ‘burning’ issues doesn’t necessarily stir the viewers to fulfil their obligations in such issues which also include problems directly or indirectly caused by the public to the detriment of society and environment. So while the anchor passionately presents news in a manner that may appear like an amphetamine fuelled rant, the viewer may consequently experience outrage, concern, apathy or other emotions.
However, what is striking is that in most of the cases, a major portion of the public is not inspired by the ‘sensational’ presentation of news to do the needful even when it comes to resolving the problems directly concerning them and their kinfolk.
Take the examples of continued deterioration of civic sanitation and traffic regulation in Doon city with the authorities considering proposals like experimenting with periodic car-free days on certain roads to tackle traffic woes while various procedures continue towards facilitation of scientific waste management. The police have often tried to stringently enforce traffic regulations for brief periods before discontinuing due to factors like political interference enabling people to continue motley traffic violations that are major reasons for Doon’s traffic woes. The public has to do its bit as responsible citizens observing traffic regulations and civic sense. Without the people acknowledging their role in creating the problem and doing their bit towards its solution, traffic congestion and littering will continue despite road widening, construction of flyovers and infrastructural developments for waste management.