Indian Television: Substance Or Trash?

Thanks to the growing Indian economy or emergence of Satellite TV, television in India today has more audience than ever before but there is big question mark on the content being shown. Does the content including the media and the news channels have any substance or is it that more and more trash is being shoved down the throats of the audience in the name of what the public really wants or demands?

Reality TV shows might bring in a lot of revenue for the TV channels as well as TRP ratings and revenue from Mobile phone service providers but what they fail to do in the process is stand up for any social responsibility. Some TV shows just lure more and more people into being greedy for money. Make no mistake, at this rate Indians will soon join the rest of the world in being spiritually bankrupt.

Recently two girls from Madhya Pradesh tried to commit suicide by jumping off the Bhaucha Dhakka dock (Ferry Wharf) in Mumbai after they failed to find the office of a Television reality show.

The girls who had lied and ran away from home took the desperate measure as they ran out of money and no one helped them find the office of the TV show. Their shocked father died of a heart attack after hearing that his two daughters had tried to commit suicide.

Meanwhile, St. George Hospital in Mumbai has refused to hand over the girls to the police team from Madhya Pradesh. "The hospital is asking for the payment of the bill which we cannot afford," said Anita Chaurasia, girls' mother.

TV news channels show no dignity for the dead or for those who are suffering the pain of the loss of a near one. All they are interested in is getting that exclusive interview or an exclusive footage no matter what the price. It’s a dog eat dog world out there for the TV media. All this makes one wonder if it’s really about journalism and covering the news and exposing the truth or is it mere economics. The media is no longer a messenger but sometimes acts like an unwanted distraction.

The choice is really for us to see. We can look at all these as mere isolated cases and forget it and continue to stream and watch the trash being shown on Indian Television or we can instead take out some time from the daily soaps and reality shows and get a reality check.