Media sensationalism @India- bad for our psyche?
This picture says it all – “The less you respond to negativity, the more peaceful your life becomes “
One just has to put on the TV these days to get bombarded with negativity and sensationalism from every corner and almost every news channel.
Breaking news remains a borrowed but badly misused tool in India
A live murder caught on cam and repeatedly playing, an industrialist with a fancy lifestyle and parliament member being allowed to flee and leaving thousands of ex employees and a dozen banks baying for his money back, thousands of dead fish washing up on a prime city lake due to mismanagement, Murders, rapes, suicides, accidents, blasts, attacks all get prime share of the news and the stories get repeated on and on . the list can go on.
Todays breaking news is of no interest after a few days for the media which thrives mostly on a diet of sensationalism
Breaking news that is often so silly that the only thing worth breaking is the tv itself. Or the habit of watching this news.
And then there are numerous ” debates ” on the corrupt system, political differences, religious polarization, etc where the most intolerant ones sometimes are the news moderators since they most often take sides ! And these debates ( if we can call them that ) are often nothing but slanging and shouting matches where no one wins.
One doesn’t even know whom to trust any longer for authentic, unbiased, balanced news
It doesn’t stop at the news, since many of these topics then go on to be dissected in the newspapers, magazines, whatsapp and other social media groups often as jokes, cartoons and with a huge dose of cynicism. And the juggernaut continues to stay alive.
What does this do the psyche of the people watching all this negativity ?
The relatively large % of indifferent ( non voters) or the “I don’t care ” segment is now coming down rapidly with more clear “like” or ” dislike” positions being drawn even if they may not be openly verbalized by all. Silence can be taken as I do not agree with the view.
Be it the elder generation for whom the television or newspapers are an important medium, the mid generation professionals on the move and the younger generations for which social media rules, they cannot escape this bombardment and negativity day in and day out.
Are we breeding a bunch of cynics about the system including the younger generation which is coming into the electoral system every year?
Hopefully more will speak up and participate in the journey of change for the better.
The silver lining
Luckily we still have sports, music, talent hunts and movies and studies which bring out the best of talent and help us appreciate the struggles and positivity which drives these individuals to reach the pinnacle of success. Cricket is one sport that makes everyone forget everything else and thump their chests ..more so when our team wins 🙂
And finally we have the power of the tiny TV remote which lets us control what we want to watch, when we want to watch, if we want to watch.
The ability to stay a bit detached ,without being indifferent, and looking at all that is going well, is possibly the key to peace and keeping negativity out of ones mind space.
If you relate to this article or any of my other articles below, do comment or share.