Parliamentary Humour

It seems that our Members of Parliament and especially one from the acting community can’t handle radio humour. They really can’t tolerate the filthy jokes and mimicry of radio jockeys that they so blatantly broadcast to the people of the country. They want the respect they think they deserve just by sitting within the annals of power, in the capital of the country.

It was actually hilarious to see the honourable member beg the government to do something about the abominable jokes cracked by media persons about her honourable colleagues and her honourable self of the honourable house. Oh, and as usual, other honourable members who hadn't received any honourable mention for some time jumped onto the honourable bandwagon and gave their honourable comments to the dishonourable media who are always poking fun at them. How honourable indeed!

It is very curious, this case of the member of the house feeling bad about all the jokes and tomfoolery that is produced at the cost of the house because she this begs the question of whether she is ever present in the house to see the antics of the chosen ones and if she is present, if she remains awake long enough to see the kind of things the people watching the Lok Sabha channel have to put up with.

I wonder how RJs and other ‘media people’ are supposed to describe what happens in the house except for mimicking the members. The people obviously can’t see the RJs over the radio so they can’t watch them enjoying a porn clip on their phone or wave bundles of money or throw microphones or climb on the speaker’s desk, so they have to content themselves by listening to them poke fun at the honourable MPs through sound. Oh, oh I forgot, they can’t even see the RJs pepper spraying the shit out of each other with ‘Rang barse, bheege chunarwaali, rang barse’ playing on the mixer.

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The media has the right to portray whatever it likes as long as it is not defamation. If the media cannot show the people what need to be shown or what the people want to see and hear, then the very existence of the media is for naught. The media recently also came under fire in Uganda for showing the President of the country among other members of Parliament sleeping mid-session.

What the honourable members need to do is improve their own behaviour rather than slam radio jockeys and other media persons for showing what they are really up to.

The Perspective of a New Journalist

To be a journalist has been this dream of mine ever since I can remember. There certainly were days when I thought flying in a fighter jet would be better, but it always came down to the feeling of having the need to show people the truth. At the end of the day, it was always the thought of the nonsense being fed to the public that got my temperature to boiling point.

Journalists taking sides, whole media houses promoting big companies/religious leaders/ political parties, anchors who didn't let their panelists speak (OK you know who that is), shameless partiality in reporting news, making up news and avoiding real issues that affected people in lieu of issues that could make newspapers sell like hot cakes, channels increase their TRPs and websites increase their traffic are things that make the world laugh at the ethics of Indian media and the gullibility of its populace.

Indian journalism seems very bleak if one knows where to look. If one does manage to somehow get to the reality, it is almost hopeless and this not my opinion but of those few good people who have to hold their conscience down and do what they are told by their corporate bosses.

Image Courtesy: Google Images.

It might seem that I’m trying to propagate conspiracy theories about the media being controlled by a few rich people and those in power but my case is substantiated by the recent fact that the CEO of Door Darshan is demanding that the government declare complete autonomy for the government controlled channel.

It might be confusing for some that I've joined a field which I have no qualms about criticizing but a system can only be changed from within. It’s high time the media realizes that the people are not stupid, that they can see through their sensationalism, their mockery of national issues and manipulation of people’s emotions. The fact that the media is actually supposed to show society a mirror of itself seems to be lost under the weight of commercialization and the greed of those who would seek nothing more than to perch themselves in the front row of so-called democracy.

However, there is hope for change. There still are independent media houses, new entrepreneurs and upright journalists who cannot bear to see the state of things as they are. These people need to be supported but without any vested interests otherwise it will all be for naught.