Indian Media

Looking at the recent news flashes in the Indian TV media, I am saddened to see the lack of investigative coverage of any news item which grabs headlines. The recent fiasco involving the Karmapa Lama highlights the case in point. The media frenzy which accused the Karmapa of being a Chinese spy ... corroborated from statements from any available source which were treated as credible and published without ascertaining any facts. The sense and sensibilities of the Tibetan people were also not taken into account. Headlines were flashed with the sole purpose of gaining viewership and to be one up over the competitors. Thats probably the disadvantage of having a 24 hours news channel .. where news have to be "generated" and "over analyzed" to keep up with the amount of time that these channels have.

In contrast, I think the print media is comparatively doing a better job on investigative reporting. They have more in-depth coverage about the pros and cons of the matter. Unfortunately, propaganda .. whether its right or wrong tends to spread more rapidly through the television rather than print medium. Somewhere down the line .. whether these channels will ever have a sense of responsibility for their actions .. is a question that keeps on popping up every now and then ..