Over the years private news channels have grown manifolds in popularity. Gone are those days when people only used to watch Doordarshan and DD Metro. Now many private news channels have come up and more and more and still in the process of coming on air. This business is amongst one of the most lucrative businesses. Providing awareness to people around India through news is not the sole purpose of these news channels.
Private news channels now are more about infotainment, which is a combination of information and entertainment. Now what is happening world wide economically, socially and politically constitutes only a little part of all the information private news channels provide. These news channels keep the audiences updated about what’s happening in glamour world, entertainment, films, movies and theatres.
The intrusion of media has increased to such a level that whatever is happening in the personal lives of celebrities too is being communicated to common people. Information and gossip about celebrities from all walks of lives is being provided to the people. Today’s generation may or may not want to keep themselves updated about what is happening in the global front economically, politically or socially, but they would like to know what is happening in the life of their favorite movie star.
Broadcast media has become a medium through which many celebrities try to regain their popularity and struggling actors try to gain the spotlight. Today if a common man wants fame, the best medium would be private news channels.
This is something that is not right. News channels need to feel and be aware of what is their purpose of existence. They are here to provide the audiences global news from all walks of life, but they must know their limits. When a news channel solely aims at providing celebrity gossip and such useless news their worthiness is to be doubted. News channels since the beginning have always been a medium of awareness and knowing what is happening worldwide. Unbiased news with a dash of entertainment would be sufficient. Even the celebrities need their required privacy.
Many news channels indulge in creating unneeded sensation and blowing any situation out of proportion to gain TRPs. This is something that must be checked. News must be presented in its crude form and adding opinions or sensationalizing it for selfish purposes must be stopped.
A few ground rules must be laid down for the private news channels to keep a check on what is being depicted by them. As the audiences get a heavy dose of rubbish news including false sensation and glamorization, they never come to know the reality, and this is what the news channels are there for. They must show the reality, untouched, unhampered and unbiased with no blow ups.
In a nutshell, the private news channels do need a regulation in India on what content is being shown to the public.
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