With all the imperfections that we are born with, many of us forget to spare time for a second thought before jumping in and blurting out our judgement about someone whom we haven’t even met. This is very evident in the endless number of news channels that serve us with supposedly news stories of supreme relevance. A nation with an array of endless visual and print media, we’re never short of newsworthy incidents that should be brought to light and should be made evident before our multicultural and multilingual society. Yet, both the big names and start-ups in media never bother to pan their eyes and camera on such issues of social relevance, instead run desperate for bytes that never fail to splash enormous deadly venom on the personal and familial life of people unknown to most of them, be it commoners, celebrities, politicians, or sports personnel. This is nothing but a pitiful degradation of the much revered media ethics that our country upholds, and this constant dwindling, tagged along with the grave fall of basic decency was seen much evident when our media firmly fixed their ‘hawk like’ eyes on the death of a socialite who unfortunately had some momentary tiff with her writer husband a few days before her death. Her death and subsequent events were blow too much out of proportion that I even saw some wacky journos barging in to her house, breaking all the tight security, just to get the ‘glimpse’ of her mortal remains. Isn’t that pitiful and downright berserk? The entire news channels continue to flash her home and the grieving family members, shamelessly intruding their privacy even when she was laid to a peaceful rest. I couldn’t help but wonder why these much celebrated news channels and self-confessed big-time journos do lack the basic decorum to have some compassion towards the family of the deceased, no matter rich or poor, and leave them to peacefully mourn the passing of their dear one.
Poking their camera and mikes in to every wanted and unwanted situation, devoid of looking at it from a humanitarian and ethical perspective, has now become the part and parcel of media, and this is too shameful and contemptible. Yet, there are no strict laws to curb this much offensive media intrusions and unwanted advances to document things that are often too personal to reveal, and sometimes despicable exaggerations that are meant only to boost their TRPs. Having said that, we should never ignore the number of relevant issues that media tend to ignore, just to fill in the space with filthy gossips and meaningless news stories. Moreover, if someone is keen on washing their dirty laundry in public, our media never fails to reach out and get ample potion of the filth that’s being vomited there. To put it shortly, they go around digging everyone’s life, blow-up everything that they get to see and hear unproportionately , make a mountain out of a mole hill and earn heaps of money from selling the personal lives of other people.
An actor who gets injured during a shoot becomes more newsworthy than a woman who gets brutally gang raped in public, the bikini clad picture of a fading actress is reported with prominence while a woman continues to go on hunger strike for years together to safeguard the womenfolk in their state, sadly this is what are forced to call journalism nowadays. Some molestations do get reported to their desks, but sadly, they continue ‘molest’ such women with their uncouth words and kill their self-respect with unending news room discussions on all the possibilities of how the girl was raped.
This sickening and nauseating downfall of media culture that we live in is only going on getting worse in the coming days, as most of the media houses have shockingly fixed their eyes only on those ‘ticklish’ news stories that are served with a pinch of eroticism and spice, to get hold of the innate human weakness to fall for quintessential juicy, spicy stories of no value. As the channels and newspapers are the only means to get our share of knowledge about what’s happening around, and we’re forced to live with the filth that comes along, these media moguls will continue to earn much more selling more and more worthless and downright despicable news stories.
Ambition vs. Practicality
Writing was the profession, the ambition, and the passion that I have always carried, right from my childhood, and was the sole reason why I joined for Journalism PG Diploma, much to the disapproval and dismay of my entire family, since they wanted me to do a B.Ed in English and become a teacher, which according to them is the most befitting profession that a woman can have. I was never in disagreement with the idea of becoming a teacher, and still believe that it’s a truly noble profession. But I did not want to pursue that for a lifetime, as the idea of remaining chained in the very limited encircle of a school campus almost scared me to death. I wanted to explore the world so badly, and do something very ‘different’ and innovative, which ultimately brings-in the joy, happiness, and contentment that I wanted.
Although I worked as a teacher for a few years, I soon embraced my passion back, and became a Content Writer. Though my Journalism course had opened up a pretty good number of much prospective career possibilities in both visual and print media, I chose none, thus giving my friends a shock of their lifetime. They called me a loser and a blockhead who couldn’t take advantage of the ‘golden’ opportunities that came to me. While they went on to become some of the much famous journos in the state, I entered the I.T industry that hardly has any elements of excitement and fame to lure me. Unlike my former classmates who became the inevitable parts of the media fraternity of the state, my I.T job never made me famous, but instead helped me get a financial grounding that I had never dreamed about. The happiness of becoming a helping hand to my ageing parents was what I took as the first and foremost priority, and the media houses that interviewed me couldn’t offer what it takes to live a pretty decent life, especially when the cost of living continue to skyrocket each day. My zeal and vigour to become a much celebrated journo was thus overpowered by the need to have stable, secure, and independent life that I desperately wanted to have. This indispensable reason almost wiped away all the possible thoughts further job hunt in the media , as I knew very well from my experiences that no matter how good I try to present my skills, they are sure to underestimate and underpay the newbies like me, and make us slog to death day in and day out.
One among the well known journalists of the state, whom I met during a job interview, gave me the shock of my life, saying that if I take up the job of a journo, I can be subjected to the worst of humiliations ever heard, and would even have to keep myself literally on tip toe all day long ,and get nothing other than fireballs of mockery and humiliation from the seniors. His concluding statement was the worst of all, as it said that I will have to forget my self-identity and prepare myself to get subdued and trampled for years long, until I get a senior position. I never wanted to experience all that and I never wanted to be underpaid as well, the reasons why I chose to shred my journo dreams and think practically. I don’t know whether I have done justice to me and my passion, but can definitely say that I continue to live life well with self identity, and at the same time slog much less than my peers in media, who hardly get a holiday to sleep their asses off.
When my friends continue to give adrenaline pumping news reports and presentations on television, practically each day, I am a behind the scene person, and work for clients across the globe with the very clear knowledge that none of the works will have my name etched on it. I am not disappointed or upset about the decision that I took, and nor am I envious about my peers who have established themselves as some of the well known people in media. I believe that this is what I am destined for, and I am very much contented with my career. I know that I haven't accomplished the goal that I had set for myself, and couldn't get hold of the career that I had dreamed about. But I never look back and regret for what has not happened, and definitely not with the career choice of mine. I chose writing, and I do that now, even though it lacks the thrill and fame that I might have had if I was a media professional. But when it comes to getting oneself a stable, stress free, and well-paid livelihood, certain ambitions will be forced to take the backseat of life, because, life lived practically and realistically is more important than sacrificing it for the the fulfillment of an ambition.
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