Biased-Reporting

There goes not one day, when there are no fights for the TV remote. My father is apparently a news-addict. So much that he cannot concentrate enough without news reporters yelling in the background. Strange know! He feels every single second there is something happening around the world and he just cant afford to miss it. But for me it just the same news being telecast-ed over and over again. Packaged differently, content is the same. Just like tap water coming under Bisleri, Aquafina, Himalaya etc. 

The news littered all over the television is more and more turning into a fabricated biased piece of information packaged under the 100 different news channels. A careful observation of each channel would give us an idea of how they base their information on swayed ideologies and show favourtism to a particular party.A reporter covering Congress is a Congressi or someone who tracks BJP is a Sanghi. If it is patronage of congress, reporters often turn ideological while covering BJP and otherwise also. My eyeballs are intact, they don't bulge on hearing this. In case of scenarios like these, the individual reporter comes from being ideological swayed to completely ignore the facts thrown at him or gets so close to the Babus to the point of being blinded to other views or succumbing to patronage. Not to forget the perks like Rajya Sabha nominations, money ,getting government positions, major role in power politics. Phew!

Though reporters maintain that there is space for critical coverage. Multiple factions in the parties are willing to leak stories. And when they know a particular reporter is critical , but is not batting for a particular side or has vested interest, they continue to respect the work of the journalist even though they would like to manipulate the story by pushing their view.

Often, these journalists have to cling onto their source of information regarding news of a particular ministry like MEA-Ministry of External Affairs.There is a legitimate expectation that the official source or view point will be reported accurately but this then gets coupled with undemocratic expectation that a contrarian and critical view will not find space at all. It is not surprising to find  some defense, intelligence and foreign affairs reporters who are more established than the establishment in defending the official view point. This is not anyone's fault necessarily but just the way incentives are aligned and reporting structures are shaped.

There is no easy way out. One way possibly is to maintain a strong separation between news and opinion where reporters can stick to factual reporting. The other is, political journalists covering different parties instead of one confining to one outfit. This will keep the biases in check and expose different view points.And one can always get details from dissenters and outliers if the officials don't give credible information.

It is their duty to provide us with the right news and information about the happenings of the world, not just that,we would like to hear relevant news. Height, weight, colour of the Royal baby is insignificant to most of us. I would prefer Saas-Bahu soaps over these and may be continue the fight with my father till he stops watching news with scary anchors yelling at the top of their voices.