By shouting out as if the whole hemisphere had been set on fire, the anchor soon caused an upheaval in our drawing room
After four years, I decided to watch prime-time news on English channels for an entire hour without any break, thanks to the interesting news bit that appeared on the small screen with the tag, ‘BREAKING NEWS’. I watched the same story on two news channels for the first 10 minutes. Both channels were interviewing an activist and conducting a debate on the same issue (it was a sensational scam story and the debate was not ‘live’). The anchors shouted out their questions and sometimes, even before the activist could answer, another question was shot at him. Sometimes, they would stop him in mid-sentence and complete his answer in sarcasm.
After awhile, I zeroed in on the channel whose news anchor was breathing down the neck of the panellists’ without any ‘break’ in the news saga. By shouting out and pretending as if the whole hemisphere had been set on fire, the anchor soon caused an upheaval in our drawing room. My disgruntled husband and son staged a walkout in protest against the ‘foolish’ viewer. My father complained of headache and without paying much attention to it, concluded that the presenter might end up losing his vocal chords.
The second half of the news show turned out to be overbearing. The news anchor continued to bully a panellist in a high-pitched tone, while serious faces shook or nodded their heads depending on which side they were on. My husband and son re-entered the TV room. They looked hungry and serious. My three-year-old son began to wail, demanding that the idiot box be turned off. Most panellists were raising their voices simultaneously, while my husband picked up our son in his arms and shouted at me.
The effect of prime-time news was showing as I yelled back at him. ‘Thirty seconds to go, Mr …,’ the news anchor announced but did not allow the panellist he was addressing to speak for more than 10 seconds. The verdict came from the self-styled judge himself. The news anchor was announcing another media trial with extra zeal in his voice.
This was akin to watching a saas-bahu soap! I switched off the TV set, while my son wiped his tears and gave me a sullen look.
With a sense of guilt, I tried to woo my son, who refused to come near me. Forcefully, I pulled him to me and took him on my lap. The next instant, I felt his underwear was wet. I screamed at the little boy and was about to seek an answer for his act, when the dog in the neighbourhood began to bark. Who knows, there might have been a ‘cat fight’ outside or maybe, my aggression passed on to the poor creature!
(The writer‘s email ID is shakuntalags@gmail.com)
Keywords: breaking news, news anchors
The writer has lampooned the TV media which quite often arouse and
break sensational news on the channels with exclusive interviews
and debates,causing the viewers anxious moments and mental agita-
-tions.The article leads one to a loud burst of laughter.The trave-
-sty hidden in the article summarises the impact of `breaking news`
on the TV watchers.More often,the channels compete with one another
to be the first one to telecast any news with extravagant exaggera-
-tions and elans.Some channels prejudice the news with concoctions
and controversies.TV media,the strongest source of entertainment
quite often tend to woo the viewers with an avid curiosity.The arr-
-esting bits of news sensitize to our emotions.The presentations of
news clued with the political affliations of the channels often
mislead the viewers to misjudgement,abrupt and absurd conclusions.
Rotten politics infest the TV media with distortions and one should
remain nonchalant to the news from TV channels!
This is a standard fare on major news channels at so called prime time 8 pm to 10 pm. Panelists are handpicked keeping in mind viewer ratings, their rhetoric skills and advertisers willing to spend money. Better to read or watch better channels like discovery. The news channels are linked to social media to keep the frenzy on.
Dear Shakuntala G. Soratur, The story you have told is very true and it is the story of every house. For me, It was a obsession to watch those news channels about 10 years back. Now it is an allergy and we hate these channels. The moment I see the face of a news anchor, I feel like sick!! I wonder,are there any people fond of these news channels and anchors!!
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