"fascinating" is the word a BBC news reader chose to desribe the interview given by our Finance Minister, P Chidambaram. There's something about Chidambaram, that makes you stop and take notice. His speeches are articulate and unambigious in the truest sense of the words. You just cant take your ears off, so to speak. He's undoubtedly my favourite Indian politician. One of the few face savers of the Indian politics as far as I am concerned.
PC, as he's fondly known has credentials and achievements to talk of. A Harvard graduate, Chidambaram is regarded by financial gurus, investors, the financial press and people across India as a qualified and highly competent finance minister. There's enough proof to see he's the ablest man to take the Indian economy forward. One thing I absolutely admire in him is the clarity he exhibits in everything he says. I just love to listen to him, interviews or speeches. You need not be a finance expert to make sense out of things he says. You must have seen him answer those myriad questions after his budget speeches, with convincing ease. I wish he remains the FM for the next twenty years!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Freak News Channels
"Amitabh Bacchan vs Rajnikanth...who's better? who's greater?" That's what virtually all the news channels have been asking us viewers ever since Sivaji was a few days due to release. As if it was the next million dollar question! Last night as I was watching one such debate, I was tired. I couldn't take it any more. All I was interested was to know the amount of interest the new Rajani movie had been generating. And there I had news channel busy comparing Rajani with another hero belonging to another industry- Amitabh Bacchan. It talked about their hit movies, their movies together, their forays into other film industries and their political affiliations - everything outside the topic. I couldn't take it any more.
These news channels have really gotten on my nerves. Can they get any more stupid? How can you compare Amitabh Bacchan with RajaniKanth, it's like comparing Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne. Anybody asked about the latter, would surely point out that the comparison isn't valid for the people in question are into 2 different arts altogether. Same is the answer here.
Amitabh and Rajani cater to 2 different audiences altogether. Two sets of audiences which are different enough to render these same actors incompetent if they were to swap industries (read Hindi and Tamil movie industries). Ask this question to any average movie buff and he would put it down unequivocally. If that's the case, how is it that these so called news experts not realize it before they go public. Oh! I get it. You see, they are into the habit of "stirring" emotions and "capturing" people's imagination. But in doing so they are making fools out of themselves. Again and again and again. Just about every day!
If you give it a serious thought, I guess they can't help it either. They've got the job of being round the clock news channels. They've got to keep the "news" fresh. But you can't always have genuine news to broadcast. They can't be like the DD of the yesteryears which would cram news into a 30 minute program( and quite informatively so). They've got to do better! And in this quest they've actually turned into "news manufacturers". Most often they're busy exaggerating news items. Their modus-operandi - pick up a news item, flash it as "BREAKING NEWS". Then dedicate as much of time as possible. Create news features out of it, by looking at all the possible links you could possibly imagine. Most often their "breaking news" are laughable, not at all worth being considered breaking news. And their follow-up news are totally out of relevance. Funnily as I write this, I'm watching this program on a news channel whose focus is Father's Day and it's relevance. And guess what it's talking about right now? The famous fathers! And the famous fathers of the country are the Bollywood Actors of the yesteryears who have their star kids ruling the roost now! And I'm right now left to sigh with the usual "Oh come on guys!" feeling. It's just a sorry testimony to the Channels' obsession with Movie stars and more importantly their ability to digress from the core of a news item.
I have so much of scorn flowing out right now for these channels! I feel I'm only getting started on the topic. Could these guys change at all and realize what we viewers expect from them? I wonder how these guys could be so lousy in understanding the needs of their market.
To be continued....
These news channels have really gotten on my nerves. Can they get any more stupid? How can you compare Amitabh Bacchan with RajaniKanth, it's like comparing Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne. Anybody asked about the latter, would surely point out that the comparison isn't valid for the people in question are into 2 different arts altogether. Same is the answer here.
Amitabh and Rajani cater to 2 different audiences altogether. Two sets of audiences which are different enough to render these same actors incompetent if they were to swap industries (read Hindi and Tamil movie industries). Ask this question to any average movie buff and he would put it down unequivocally. If that's the case, how is it that these so called news experts not realize it before they go public. Oh! I get it. You see, they are into the habit of "stirring" emotions and "capturing" people's imagination. But in doing so they are making fools out of themselves. Again and again and again. Just about every day!
If you give it a serious thought, I guess they can't help it either. They've got the job of being round the clock news channels. They've got to keep the "news" fresh. But you can't always have genuine news to broadcast. They can't be like the DD of the yesteryears which would cram news into a 30 minute program( and quite informatively so). They've got to do better! And in this quest they've actually turned into "news manufacturers". Most often they're busy exaggerating news items. Their modus-operandi - pick up a news item, flash it as "BREAKING NEWS". Then dedicate as much of time as possible. Create news features out of it, by looking at all the possible links you could possibly imagine. Most often their "breaking news" are laughable, not at all worth being considered breaking news. And their follow-up news are totally out of relevance. Funnily as I write this, I'm watching this program on a news channel whose focus is Father's Day and it's relevance. And guess what it's talking about right now? The famous fathers! And the famous fathers of the country are the Bollywood Actors of the yesteryears who have their star kids ruling the roost now! And I'm right now left to sigh with the usual "Oh come on guys!" feeling. It's just a sorry testimony to the Channels' obsession with Movie stars and more importantly their ability to digress from the core of a news item.
I have so much of scorn flowing out right now for these channels! I feel I'm only getting started on the topic. Could these guys change at all and realize what we viewers expect from them? I wonder how these guys could be so lousy in understanding the needs of their market.
To be continued....
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