Previously In the A-Z series
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
"I don't like to share my personal life... it wouldn't be personal if I shared it" (by George Clooney)
Hello Everyone,
Recently I read a Facebook entry by none other than Amitabh Bacchan wherein he said he cannot step out of the house, attend any function, or go in public because there are billions of people wanting to know every single detail of their private life, billions of cameras in the form of press reporters, smartphones etc. tracking their every move. Sad but its truth. For them the word personal has lost meaning because general public finds entertainment in knowing about their every single life detail.
But if I tell this to the press and the paparazzi they will instantly snap at me with the freedom of press crap. Well I think that they forget one very old saying - "Your freedom is only till where the tip of your nose ends". Freedom of press does not mean that you have the right to invade into the personal lives of people. Unless that is needed to uncover a crime of something of the same nature press has no business publicizing the private lives of people.
The information media has today lost one important component - information and has replaced it with entertainment. Every day I think that after going home I will watch some "News" but do I get to hear some constructive news? No. The race for TRPs has burnt all the bridges between information and news delivery. Now it’s just a delivery. News has been burnt to ashes. Press making out stories out of this air just to get momentary increase in the TRPs, some of those stories are so ridiculous that even the stupidest person will have a very very hard time believing it.
I just wonder how those paparazzi would feel if their own person life was scrutinized to shreds and presented in the media in a spectacle. I am pretty sure they would not like the entire world to know when they went out with their partner or kissed them, what they were wearing, who they talked with etc. etc. No they would not. But they cannot extend the same courtesy to the people. Recently in the natural debacle in Uttarakhand I saw a footage on almost all the news channels - a rock falling from the mountain in some landslide. The entire story was focused on how the rock was falling. It made me laugh derisively and I felt so bad for the state of media that I switched of the news channel.
I really hope that some press person reads this article and understand that personal means personal and not public and it should remain personal. If they do not understand that then they should probably take lessons in English. There are many people who like their every life detail to be aired, focus on them and please do some constructive news reporting. Journalism has hit a new low - a low that I call as abyss. I wonder if the journalism will ever come out of it.
I am closing this post by a famous quote by Mahatama Gandhi - "I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers".
Thanks,
Genie Signing off
email: arunesh.genie@gmail.com
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
"I don't like to share my personal life... it wouldn't be personal if I shared it" (by George Clooney)
Hello Everyone,
Recently I read a Facebook entry by none other than Amitabh Bacchan wherein he said he cannot step out of the house, attend any function, or go in public because there are billions of people wanting to know every single detail of their private life, billions of cameras in the form of press reporters, smartphones etc. tracking their every move. Sad but its truth. For them the word personal has lost meaning because general public finds entertainment in knowing about their every single life detail.
But if I tell this to the press and the paparazzi they will instantly snap at me with the freedom of press crap. Well I think that they forget one very old saying - "Your freedom is only till where the tip of your nose ends". Freedom of press does not mean that you have the right to invade into the personal lives of people. Unless that is needed to uncover a crime of something of the same nature press has no business publicizing the private lives of people.
The information media has today lost one important component - information and has replaced it with entertainment. Every day I think that after going home I will watch some "News" but do I get to hear some constructive news? No. The race for TRPs has burnt all the bridges between information and news delivery. Now it’s just a delivery. News has been burnt to ashes. Press making out stories out of this air just to get momentary increase in the TRPs, some of those stories are so ridiculous that even the stupidest person will have a very very hard time believing it.
I just wonder how those paparazzi would feel if their own person life was scrutinized to shreds and presented in the media in a spectacle. I am pretty sure they would not like the entire world to know when they went out with their partner or kissed them, what they were wearing, who they talked with etc. etc. No they would not. But they cannot extend the same courtesy to the people. Recently in the natural debacle in Uttarakhand I saw a footage on almost all the news channels - a rock falling from the mountain in some landslide. The entire story was focused on how the rock was falling. It made me laugh derisively and I felt so bad for the state of media that I switched of the news channel.
I really hope that some press person reads this article and understand that personal means personal and not public and it should remain personal. If they do not understand that then they should probably take lessons in English. There are many people who like their every life detail to be aired, focus on them and please do some constructive news reporting. Journalism has hit a new low - a low that I call as abyss. I wonder if the journalism will ever come out of it.
I am closing this post by a famous quote by Mahatama Gandhi - "I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers".
Thanks,
Genie Signing off
email: arunesh.genie@gmail.com
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