Role of Indian Media in dissemination of information

"Aloker ei jharna dhara-ey dhui-yey dao Apnakey,
Ei luki -ey Rakha Dhular Dhaka Dhuiyey dao"
-- Rabindranath Tagore
Translation:
Alok=Light, Jharna=Spring, Dhara= Flow, Dhuiey= Wash, Dao= Do it, Apnakey- Self/ Yourself,
Ei= This, Lukiey= Hidden, Dhular= Dust, Dhaka= Covered.

--Let this Brilliant Light that springs forth like a fountain from the depth of the earth wash away the thick layer of dust that was hiding your real self.

Just like the the Nobel Laureate Poet is involking the shining light to wash away the age old layers of dust that had hidden our true selves, I thank the Media & all those who are behind them for their abominable behaviour as pointed out by the aggrieved Officer's mail to Zeenews Network (in Post-no-1 of this blog), because it has actually wiped off the layers of dust on our collective souls. Your behaviour has now made us shake our lethargy and indifference to our environment and have shaken our collective SOULS! You have started a MOVEMENT.

Never before you saw a 3 day strike in the Oil Sector in the history of Post Indepedent India( for that matter even before that) and yet we ask you, DID you ever think why???????? Alas you did not even have a child's curiosity to ask questions.. What you did was just club our strike with the Trucker's Strike and even confused who is demanding what (saying Petrol Pump employees are asking for reduction of price)!!!

Yes, I thank you Zee news, I thank you Star news, I thank you India TV! I thank you Aaj Tak! I thank all of you Private News Channels for what you have done in 3 days, we never dreamt of doing in years!

I SALUTE you & your bunch of shrieking, loud voiced, theatrical, half witted, uninformed news anchors who thrive on the moment - you who employ these people who do not even half the brain to understand that "Electricity cannot be stored" as proved by the half witted lady of a news channel whose voice revealed her anxiety of meeting her target (her editor must have told her.. "get the interviewee to say that his buffer of electricity will last 2 days" and so this oil strike is so much harmful or else YOU will not get your increment!!). The top man of the Delhi Power station kept telling her that - yes the gas turbines were not running due to shortage of gas (due to the strike) but electricity shortfall of 500 MWs is being taken care of by his coal based generation and tapping from the neighbouring GRID - & so there will be no problem..but this young lady kept pestering him (in Hindi) "So, Sir, your gas turbines are not running.. what do you think? How long will your buffer or stock will last?" The man kept saying.."We cannot not store Electricity.. My gas stock is not there but no problems we will take electricity from UP Grid" she insisted "Phirbhi (Still 2 days 3 days?)" Why not? This is the Quality of Private Sector TV Channels!! Alas!!

Poor people they are, my dear readers!! I know they, the pvt media, are helpess. After all all THESE private Channels have to compete! Till late 70s or early 80s we had only the print media, which was much more responsible at that time. Then came Doordarshan or DD as we now know it as. Then suddenly in the past few years with the technological advancement we have seen mushrooming of a plethora of Private News Channels. And these news channels need their TRPs to survive.

Because greater the TRP means greater the advertisement Revenue they can earn and and and..and (???) .... hmm..why do you think PRIVATE PLAYERS DO business for? TO make money! ! (See Satyam??) No prizes for the answer!

(NEVER FORGET THIS-- Private Players do buisness for Money- because this site will deal on that too, and take you through a Premiere show- one who these people never dreamt of.)

So at least we saw DD news give a more subdued coverage, because it is not there for TRPs, though of course it too did not portray our points and views. But then they are excused, after all DD News is owned by Govt just like we are.. the POOR PUBLIC Sector !! In fact more so!

What Mr D. Ray, has pointed out in his well written letter (and I can understand how much time he must have taken to form the words- after all he is part of management of INDIANOIL) is that the Private Media has behaved very irresponsibly, their anchors only believing in Sensationalising the News without taking the Trouble of Probing the facts and performing the TRUE role of the MEDIA- Bringing out the TRUTH.

Yes a strike is the last resort, but when the other side will not listen at all, then what next? This is an eternal debate that wil keep raging till the end of PSUs.

But I am happy that in this process the whole incident now has unleased an unparalleled anger among not only Oil Sector but all Public Sector Employees and if the officers can only now channel their anger into creating a new dawn Unionism at least the next strike will not fizzle out in this manner, if we ever have to resort to it again.

Jai Public Sector!
Jai Hind!

Shantanu Das