THE TRP MERCHANTS

Intelligence is anathema to television journalism. But if an intelligent man makes a stupid statement, that’s music to the Channel Editor, who thrives on TRP. In a television debate, who gets maximum time – not the knowledgeable or intelligent one, but the one who knows the least on the subject and whose tongue has an elasticity that beats the most elastic material on earth? Arvind Kejriwal is the darling of all Channel Editors because he hides his intelligence when he speaks. Narendra Modi’s biting jibes and histrionic skills are second to none. Sonia Gandhi’s high pitch has a bit of resonance of her famous mother-in-law, and is worth listening for a few seconds. Arun Jaitley is too intelligent to emerge as a much-loved television star. More than his admirers, the critics of Rahul Gandhi love to listen to him, and the well-meaning prince seldom disappoints. 

Once upon a time, there was a breed of lowly professionals called newspaper hawkers, who screeched the news to sell. Today, they are replaced by a new breed called News Anchors, highly educated – some even in Harvard and Oxford but betraying no trace of it – polished, cultured, sophisticated, coming from excellent families, and from some of whom you can’t take your eyes off, but doing the same job: screeching to sell! Arnab Goswami, the darling of the masses, Rajdeep Sardesai, the more professional one, and Prannoy Roy, the Father of Television Journalism (and not to leave out Barkha Dutt and Sagarika Ghose) present an interesting scenario. But if you still miss those hawkers, remember they are Bangalored!

 

 

 

The author is Editor News Mobile

(Views expressed are personal)