Have any of you noticed that the new these days seems to be getting more and more irrelevant. When I mean irrelevant, I mean we seem to be hearing more and more about film stars and their personal lives rather than what is actually happening around the world. For example, when Abhishek B and Aishwarya Rai got married, that was the headlines on a day when far more significant events were happening. The news would rather cover the wedding of X and Y or the dating of M and N, rather than true issues. Most significant issues until endorsed by a political party rarely get any publicity.
I happened to discuss this with a group of friends. Some of us said that this is because of the shift in the needs of the people. Even news channels need to report information like weddings, scandals and other tit-bits. Or else news channels run the risk of losing out on ratings. Same holds for news papers. We would rather buy a newspaper with a photo of Saif and Kareena lip-locking rather than a picture of burning huts somewhere in Kenya.
Another friend came up with this bit of logic that i found really interesting and though I must share with you. He said that the reason we buy such info is because we want to get away from morbid reality. We already have enough tension in our lives with work, relationships, peer pressure, etc. Why would we want to buy information that would depress us even more? If we keep reading about terror threats in our own backyard, we would have to start worrying about an attack any time. Who really wants to hear of yet another platoon being killed in Baghdad or another threat by the US to Iran or Korea? If we keep reading on how the dollar keeps dropping in value, we would have to worry about US jobs and jobs on the home front. Politics is perhaps the most depressing news. We never know when the government will fall leading to uncertainty, threat of riots, bundhs, and the works.
We as humans try to be happy. We would rather read about who proposed to whom and where. Issues of people in the limelight seem more interesting as it is info you can read and forget. This eases tension on the mind. Yes there are those who do read the actual news, but the shift towards entertainment is clearly visible. Maybe a time will come when the Sarkozy-Bruni wedding might actual dictate stock market fall or rise. Britney Spears’ album sales might result in the rise of the price of petrol. Even Saif-Kareena affair might decide who becomes president.
I know it’s too far fetched a scenario. But, I guess the way the news media are giving priority to entertainment, I guess if we cant beat them join them.
I happened to discuss this with a group of friends. Some of us said that this is because of the shift in the needs of the people. Even news channels need to report information like weddings, scandals and other tit-bits. Or else news channels run the risk of losing out on ratings. Same holds for news papers. We would rather buy a newspaper with a photo of Saif and Kareena lip-locking rather than a picture of burning huts somewhere in Kenya.
Another friend came up with this bit of logic that i found really interesting and though I must share with you. He said that the reason we buy such info is because we want to get away from morbid reality. We already have enough tension in our lives with work, relationships, peer pressure, etc. Why would we want to buy information that would depress us even more? If we keep reading about terror threats in our own backyard, we would have to start worrying about an attack any time. Who really wants to hear of yet another platoon being killed in Baghdad or another threat by the US to Iran or Korea? If we keep reading on how the dollar keeps dropping in value, we would have to worry about US jobs and jobs on the home front. Politics is perhaps the most depressing news. We never know when the government will fall leading to uncertainty, threat of riots, bundhs, and the works.
We as humans try to be happy. We would rather read about who proposed to whom and where. Issues of people in the limelight seem more interesting as it is info you can read and forget. This eases tension on the mind. Yes there are those who do read the actual news, but the shift towards entertainment is clearly visible. Maybe a time will come when the Sarkozy-Bruni wedding might actual dictate stock market fall or rise. Britney Spears’ album sales might result in the rise of the price of petrol. Even Saif-Kareena affair might decide who becomes president.
I know it’s too far fetched a scenario. But, I guess the way the news media are giving priority to entertainment, I guess if we cant beat them join them.
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