Warning : This post is not for the weak hearted. You might experience nausea or temporary coma/shock after watching the disturbing images. Please keep a glass of water with you before reading further.
What you are viewing are the glorious images from the top Indian News channels. For those of you who are not very much conversant with Hindi, the translations are just below the images.
From top to bottom : Commissioner Sahib’s dog found, Where is Sanif ? ( This is hopefully the dog’s name), The dog was kidnapped(??!!!) on 5 November 2007, Delhi Commissioner’s dog found (This line is just below Breaking News)
From top to bottom : Commissioner’s dog, The Dog went missing on 25 March (Errrr….wasn’t it 5 November earlier???)
From top to bottom : Queen cat on rooftop ( Well…its not a “queen” cat actually, but in India we have a habit of calling cats/girls/brides that way. 
), the drama(of the cat, that is) lasted for 6.5 hours.
The last line is some “irrelevant” news on Amitabh and Thakery, neither of whom is related to the queen cat in any way.
From top to bottom : The cat jumped down finally on its own ( What were they expecting? That she will develope wings and fly away??? ), Cat stuck on rooftop (the “queen” part has vanished by now).
The last line is again some gibberish nonsense news which I am quite sure is not about the cat.
The first reaction on watching the images is a loud laugh but then if we think seriously, what are we looking at? Aren’t we somehow responsible of this Grendel? Or are the news channels taking the masses too lightly and trying their patience? Aaj Tak has been awarded the Indian Television Academy’s Best Hindi News Channel six times in a row and has a viewership exceeding 45 million and is closely followed by Star News in terms of viewership, but this does not stop them from being pedestrian. Does it?
Indulging in infotainment is understandable (but not justifiable) where the focus is on marketing and TRPs instead of journalism, but this kind of “breaking news” does not even come in this category. Do the news channels run out of relevant news (which is a hard feat to achieve, specially in India)? Or do they think that the Indian masses are so downright dumb that they will lap up anything served to them? Or is the “Indian mentality” of spicing up everything for its own vicarious thrills taking its toll?
According to a poll conducted by BBC/Reuters/Media Center, Media is more trusted than Governments. In India, 82% of the people who took part in the poll trusted media more than the Government. The most important news source for Indians are the News channels(mentioned by 37%), followed by newspapers. When asked about the most trusted News channel, Aaj Tak won hands on. And then what are we served? Breaking news about lost dogs and terrified cats?
Does these news channels realise the kind of responsibilities they are supposed to handle and the unabashed mockery they make of it?
Social Bookmarks :
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
Torch against Terrorism
The White Tiger
Aravind Adiga(3/5)
Dead Poets Society(4/5)
Valkyrie(4/5)
Frozen River(4/5)
Trainspotting(5/5)
12 Angry Men(5/5)
oh bhaiya news channels ke paas relevant news ki nahin relevant news audience ki kami hai..
aap hi ka example loon agar , I am dam sure ki ye jo news ke upar aapne blog likha aur snapshots daale , did u ever do the same for a political news or about the society .. tell me honestly .. I think u would have changed the channell for sure… So its us to blame but no oneelse..
I agree 150% with SAM. This is all because of the us who are having less rememberance power. We can forgive cricket team after getting chated by it somany times, we can forgive cola companies if they are having pestisides in their bottles. We can forgive leaders who did scams. I cant write more than this, I already disturbed with these thoughts itself
God please help us.
@Sam and Vijaya Bharat : I think we are mixing a lot of things here. This post is about how the news channels are not living up to the responsibilities entrusted to them. Its not about the audience side of the story. I agree that the audience has a short memory and such news coverages won’t be remembered in the long run but you can’t blame the audience for this. If a news channel has gained a high TRP then it dosen’t mean that they get the freedom to misuse it.
There is no question about the political and social issues covered by the channels. They do it to hilt and with all pomp and show but again it can’t justify the presence of “non issues” as a breaking news. All I wanted to convey is that there are too many socially relevant issues on which the channels should focus.
@Sam : //did u ever do the same for a political news or about the society //
I think I am exactly trying to do that. I am trying to point out that such irrelevent news coverages should be stopped and the channels should live up to their responsibilities. I am very sure that this post does NOT encourage the presence of the kind of news clippings shown in the snapshots.
I think I did…. I am very much aware of the ongoing politics in India even after sitting here… and very much up for the social causes.. but you have to agree that its more towards the profit than any sort of social resposibility for the news channels..
if it was for sharing any responsibility, then I think there would not be hundreds of news channels as there are as I don’t think there are so many responsible people out there… its all about money and profits.. I am not trying to justify anything or defend the news channels but trying to explore why they do so.. after all when they did their journalism courses , they would have had diffferent ideas but its the strategy of show what sells that has caused it.. also the number of thinkers in this nation is not that much I think percentage of people thinking like you would be less than 5 % . rest all of them want gossip.. this gave them a reason to talk about or to criticise AajTak for Half an hour and also to remember some old crap news and have some laughs.. So I don’t really think that AajTak has got much of an option here.. Its story is just like himesh reshamiya.. Sells but gets criticised…
A few news channels should be blacklisted-
Aajtak,India Tv,News24(Rajeev Shukla’s channel)and Hindi version of IBNlive.they make me sick.They are spreading superstitions and are indulging in yellow journalism.
The thing is that people want infotainment, or lets call it entertainment, cuz it doesn’t provide any info. People don’t want to hear other people’s opinion on imp. things, what frauds gov. did, what rights we have, what is being done wrong by the government, they get bored and complain that the news channels are mundane, so the news channels do this……………..sad…it really is.
Sam is right, btw
Hmmm… well well well… Sam, u r right in the perspective that you have created and I also agree with the skeptism, this blog (from Bhaiyaa) is pointing towards… But I do have a problem with our society’s atitude… First thing first, it doesn’t take a whole lot of effort to change the channel (and having a remote in hand is rather much simple), Second, they are doing their job… let them do it whatever way they want…What we can do from our side is stop watching these channels and discussing about their stupidity. That would be best to make them realise their mistakes in long term… And in the last… what is being discussed here on the blog is a sick part of our society from long time now… History itself proves this… As a matter of fact, only the technical medium of spreading such news has been changed… Didn’t we all have an experience reading Newspaper and especially Hindi Newspaper long back which were flooded by such news… The legendary Punjab Kesari… Collection of Sick and shit news only… In those days newspaper were the medium and these types of news were there and debates were also there… now these news are promoted from newspaper to stupid box and still what good we all are doing is again Debate…
So, after all this said… I want to request everybody to please put your effort in watching, writing or doing something better rather than discussing these kind of news or stupid stuff… Discussing a bad doesn’t bring any good… you have to take some good steps to stop bad and bring good…
(My apologies to all those who like watching, discussing and then abusing these stuff… May GOD have mercy on them)…
So the news channels seem to have touched a new low in life
Commissionar sahab ka kutta mila? What’s next? Commissionar’s sahab’s maid did not come to work today! 
I can’t stop laughing. On my last visit to India, I couldn’t tolerate the “noise” generated by these news channels! Even the Indian TV is way too loud. Songs are loud, people are loud…okay, I’m losing track of the original post now. Heh.
@ “Do the news channels run out of relevant news (which is a hard feat to achieve, specially in India)? Or do they think that the Indian masses are so downright dumb that they will lap up anything served to them?” -
Bhaiyaa… let me assure you one thing… we are doing much better than US atleast… Just try watching a US NEWS channel such as ABC network or FOX News and you will know the reality that how much news drought affected these channels are… I saw a report on lost dog of a neighbourhood couple just like any other family about two months back… another height was when they conducted a survey on whether you wear a t-shirt or go bare top to watch a football (american term for rugby) game…
@Sam, Perx, RXK : Ok. I am getting the point. But somehow it breaks my heart to put the full blame on the audience. I don’t think I completely agree with that. How many people do you know who would sit through such a news? I don’t know anyone. Frankly speaking I myself have never seen Aaj Tak as I cannot tolerate it. I simply flip the channel.
//watching, discussing and then abusing these stuff//
I am very sure none of the people who commented here like watching this stuff, so we are just discussing and abusing. If anyone from the channel falls upon this post, atleast they would know what people think about the channel.
True, that its all about TRPs and keeping the channel alive and kicking but will the audience really protest if such news is not shown?? Is our life so contrived and mundane that we need a news channel to spice it up for us? If this is true then we are in a very sorry state.
@Pr3rna : I really wish I had an Alladin lamp. This would have been my second wish. The first one would be the mass murder of all the lizards of the world.
@Ruhi : Hey!!! You are turning into a true blue Foreigner.
In India we consider these syndromes as region specific. For e.g. the North Indians are spendthrifts or the South Indians never pick up a serious fight on the roads or the East Indians are very loud, but you have united India by your comment. 
Its a crime, do you know that? 
Amit- I forgot to ask you whether you actually flipped all the channels and clicked pictures
I guess you did, right? Hehe. And yes, I did a big mistake by unifying India. 
Now people from all regions will come to beat me seperately. 
@Ruhi : God No!!! Do you realise the kind of trauma one has to go thorugh to watch those channels and then wait for such news and then click it?? I got these pictures in two seperate mails…so I thought of putting them here.
I can’t watch Aaj Tak. Even if someone pays me to do that.
ROFL! I really thought that you clicked them, to provide fodder for this post
Hehe. I thought that Aaj Tak has become pretty bad…I don’t know if my parents even watch it. They only have CNN playing all the time, I think.
You know what the secret of the news channels is? Incompetence and laziness and understaffing. It takes a lot of hard work to write a good story. It requires a nose for the right story, then following up the lead (some leads lead to nothing), a lot of research, then collating and sorting the information, toying with different pegs, then writing it clearly and concisely. In developed countries they have 10 times the number of journalist per channel/newspaper they have in India plus they have well functioning research depts which help the writer on each story. Journalists are at time given 2-3 weeks to work on a good feature. In India you get 1-2 days. It’s sick, because the bosses only want it quickly, regardless of quality. They simply do not have content for 24 hours. To create content for 24 hours requires a lot of good people who need to be paid well. In developed countries a freelancer can submit just 2 articles to a major newspaper and manage to live on the proceeds. In India if you are lucky you get Rs 1000/- for an article you have worked on for 2 weeks. They don’t want to pay freelancers, but ofcourse they pay the celebrity journalists and celebrities who I think write in their sleep most of the time. For them writing is not their bread and butter and they pay less attention to it.
In developed countries, they judge you by your work. In India even the top newspapers make do with staffers to write stories and as everyone is understaffed, they are forced to produce stories to fill up space in 24 hours! There is extreme politics and chamchagiri even in the so-called top media (there is no international competition, only monopolies) as this industry is protected due to security reasons.
It’s all very complex actually but having worked in the India Today group (the Aaj Tak team was sharing the office with us at the time) I saw what was happening. Freshers straight out college pushed to the brink, made to work mad hours, and their bosses barely with any experience but ofcourse the top bosses screaming and shouting hysterically if the story was not on the table in 10 hours or whatever. Taking time over a story was immediately thought to be laziness, but it was not the case. there is just so much one can do in 10 hours.
Anyway, this comment has already got too long. Sorry!
Wow… @Nita… Awesome… Now we are feeling the heat… I really appreciate your sharing of all these facts with us… But one thing which I want to say is that isn’t it pretty much of a same condition of every industry that we are working these dayz… u take IT or software, manufacturing, finance and banking… any domain and u will find the same culture or work ethics that have been explained in Nita’s comments… And actually now I have been so much formulated with these aspects that I have really accepted this and I admire this… as we are the only species on this holy earth who can do something like this… At the end of the day we are pushing the nation forward and it should be one thing among various worst that we can celebrate…
Japanese had time management and hence they knew how to use their 24 hours effectively in country building and they did so… We Indians not only disrespect time we literally screw it up and then we are left with only 10 hours a day of effectiveness… from this perspective we are doing good… at least in my perspective… and What worst you can be… from here all left is to be getting good only… So lets gear up…
Aaj Tak was a very decent channel when it began. In fact it was a welcome change because of the optimistic and powerful journalism. The anchors were always so energetic. Slowly though everything came to an end and now they’re getting really pathetic. The beginning of the demise were those crime serials and then slowly everything seemed to fall apart and now all they have to cover are Swami’s, Cat’s and The Great Khali.
But sometimes I wonder, maybe the Hindi channel watching junta actually likes this stuff. I think this way precisely because of Rajdeep Sardesai. The guy owns CNN-IBN and IBN7. And if you see the difference in content between CNN-IBN and IBN7, you’ll realize that they show useless stuff on IBN7 purposely. Maybe that actually sells and that’s why they show it, right? But CNN-IBN is a nice channel..if nothing else..I really like their Citizen Journalist waala concept. One decent Hindi channel is probably NDTV India. That doesn’t show crap as far as I know.
@Ruhi : I can’t even imagine doing that.
I too have watched CNN. I think its pretty decent. I think there is another channel called Times Now(???) which is also good.
@Nita : Thankyou so much for sharing this insight. This was something we all were quite oblivious to. The most ironical part is that the audience don’t care. If we thumb down the channel, all this could stop or alteast we could drill some sense in the top management that we are not interested in the trash they are serving as news. Your comment has left me really disturbed. I have read it so many times. Why don’t you write a post on it on your blog?
@RXK : We both know how IT industry works. Don’t we?
Yes, its pretty much the same everywhere, but we don’t instantly influence lakhs of people with our work. It takes some time atleast and its done with some process. We have backups and disaster managements. What Nita has described is a very grim situation. Yes we are pushing the nation forward but at the cost of what?
We both have worked for hours in office but dosen’t it feel at times that you are loosing out on your life?It all comes with its perks(atleast for us), but I don’t think if its the same with journalists and freelancers.
@Ish : Yes, I remember it was quite good in the beginning. It wasn’t even a 24 hour channel. Right?
And reading the comments above, I too have started believing that people do like watching all that. If you go in remote villages, such news would be a hot topic for discussion for days. I used to watch CNN IBN in my gym. I think its a pretty decent channel. I hope they are able to maintain things.
ha ha …. thats funny ..i missed it
..
anyways aaj tak has really been the worst news channel ..but i always wonder how it wins best hindi news channel award..
the amont of ads they put inbetween their special repot is silly…its like soaps ….
i mean even the special reports are waste ..they show nothing much important..they create this whole excitement and then it turns out to be nothing..
its really a shame that it wins the award for showing such absurd news
@amit
i kinda find him cute nowadays… 
and also sherlyn chopra’s diamond encrusted bikini???? 
dat was awesome news yaar…and neways aaj tak and dis star news hindi are filled with “gems” like these…. 
i even saw a news headlines ki “aishwarya gayi miami” and they were speculating ki she might have gone 2 meet her hubby abhishek who was shooting there….do u need 2 b a rocket scientist 2 know dat???? 
and they devoted half an hr to discuss that….can u beleive dat????? 
arrey hw cld u miss Khali yaar
I lost my pet cockroach. I think I should call Aaj Talk (dumb joke)
WHAT ?????
they spent all their airtime on a cat?
I read on the paper about the ‘dog’ thing. Our police force is very efficient in those things especially coz its for the ‘dog’ (read commisioner.. oops ‘Commissioner’s dog,, whatever).
//The cat jumped down finally on its own ( What were they expecting? That she will develope wings and fly away??? //
haha. How many media analysts came for a debate on “What would have happened if the cat decides to fly” or did they interview any Mr XYZ, Cat owner, to learn more about cats and its peculiar habits.
@Arvind : I think they have found the key to the Indian audience’s heart. Spice up everything and turn it into a Balaji television type Khichdi and we Indians are going to love it.
And awards, well, there are many ways to win them. 
@Riddhima : I don’t watch the channel, so I am not aware of the latest proceedings.
Believe me, ye jo post main pics lagai hain maine, they were a big shock in their own way. But you seem to watch the channel a lot??? 
@Xylene : Oh, I am very sure they must have called some animal psychiatrist to talk to the cat and bring her down, and then the channel would have taken all the credit to save the ninth life of the cat. How is it the ninth life? Well, they must have called an astrologer too.
yeah awards can be won by some ways
.. but seriously ..is there anyu need to spice up the news..to some extent its ok ,cuz i cant see guys reading new when they appear to be sick with a dull sullen face..like they used to do in DD …
and over spicing makes it hard to beleive that they are actually telling news
@amit
toh yeh wonderful channels k headlines bhi i read sometimes 
althouh i dont manage 2 c d entire report even if i have too since my bro and dad cant stand dat channel 
u know wat??? my entire family is “news addicts” so whole day v keep on surfing news channels yaar
@amit
BTW upar mere comment mein is dat sentence correct??? “my entire family is news addicts”. will it be “is” ya “are”????
oye Ravi abe Rugby aur American Football alag games hain bhai… waise bhaiya mast hai na kuch kutte aur billi itna bada discussion forum create kar sakte hain.. aaj se I will respect all the cats and dogs I see…
Baaki agla page rats aur earthworms par likhna unhe bhi thodi publicity chahiye bhai.. aise ignore mat karo un becharon ko…
wow how did i miss these
pics speak a lot loudr than words
aaj tak was great when it came on dd metro for half an hr
never liked star news
a long time ago i was discussing with ankur or nita about how
aajtak has become a circus good u pointed it out
when i get the time ill do one on crime series on news
that is damn interesting
after having watched Aish-Abhi marriage tamasha on the indian media, i dont really have any great opinions about them.
But, the sight of Amar ‘Butler’ Singh enjoying as if he was the one getting married to Aish was something worth watching though.
@Arvind : I think the news which came on DD was much substantial and authentic than what we see now. I even remember the faces of those news readers. My favourite was Salma Sultana. Anyone remember her???
Aneways nowadays, if you want to have a good laugh, you see the hindi news. 
@Riddhima : It will be “is”.
And I take your word on it that you are not in love with AajTak. 
@SAM : Another confusing comment from SAM.
Arre, you are happy I wrote this or sad that we are discussing all this? Sometimes, you are just impossible. 
@Prax : Yes, that 1/2 hour show was the best. Who was the anchor? Nalini or Nandini….and now we have Sansani!!!
Their crime shows generally have those terrifying anchors which look nothing less than escaped convicts. Yes, it would be good to do a write up on that. 
@Liju Philip : Oh!!! I missed that. But I am very sure that the media would have done everything to break into the house. I have heard that there was some girl who slashed her wrist in front of their house?? Or was it some other celebrity marriage?
@amit
thanx mister [:D]
ya, it was the same marriage where a girl slashed her wrist. she was some small time actress. maybe she took her acting a bit too far
@Riddhima : You are welcome.
@Liju Philip : Oh..ok. I thought it might have happened in Hrithik’s wedding. Senile decay.
Pffst!!!
Very interesting posts. I have been trying to figure out why these kind of things are happening on the Hindi News channels. What I have understood is that it is related to the TRPs.
These days u keep hearing of new channels being launched. Not sure what we are going to end up with.
The latest I have heard of is a National News channel being launched called VOICE OF INDIA. Anyone aware of this????
@NewsJunky : Thanks and welcome to the blog. Yes it is all related to TRPs and if you read Nita’s comment at the top, you will get an insight into what is actually happening.
Oh!!! There is another news channel being launched??? I was not aware of that. Which group is launching it??
As far as I know, there is one new one launched shortly after NEWS 24 called India news or India LIVE (not sure). This is started by some chandigarh politician I believe. The voice of india is being launched by some triveni group. what i have heard is that they plan to come up with a decent version of news.
If this happens, it will be a welcome change but then the TRPs may kill them too. So best of luck to the 2 new entrants. Lets see how long they last in giving NEWS & how soon they shift to Khali the great or the commissioners dog. 
VIEWERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SUCH GARBAGE. ALL FEEL IT BAD BUT TRP GRAPH INDICATES SOME THING ELSE. WE FIRST WATCH THIS GARBAGE THEN WE REDICULE IT.IF PEOPLE WILL START REJECTING IT NO CHANNEL CAN DARE TO SHOW SUCH THINGS. I AM SURE.
@NewsJunky : I seriously hope that they provide something refreshing. I remember, even Aaj Tak was started like this and it was quite good in the initial stages. But look at it now. I hope the new channels don’t fall in the same category after a period of time.
@KISHORE MALVIYA : Yes, I did get this point while reading the comments of the readers and I do agree to this now. Somehow we have to stop watching these things. Thanks for dropping by.
I don’t completely agree with Kishore. I think somewhere the channels need to be responsible. If the Ratings are the only criteria then they should not be in the Business. Can you imagine watching NEWS on a pornographic channel just because the NEWS is giving better ratings?????
If you are a News Channel then stick to news. Why shouldn’t I watch Raju Srivastava on a comedy channel rather than a news channel. Even if you try comedy on a News Channel, it should be related to news & not just some standup. The try by Star with Shekhar Suman on Poll Khol was an idea like that I guess. But Just my views????
East Indians are very loud??????????????????????? and Southies are not???????? anyway each person to his own. Aaj Tak sucks!!! Also Zee News. all the programs at primetime (i.e. dinner time in my home) on ramayana and mahabharat are irritating and blasphemous. Thx to IPL I have got something to watch while having dinner.
@Reema : Don’t take it seriously. Kuch to log kahenge.
I am completely off the television now a days. Even if I switch it on, its for the match or some program on Travel and Living.
Hi again. I have seen Voice of India. seems to be just launched. definately different but too much of repeats. maybe starting trouble.
@NewsJunky : Oh! Good that its different. Just pray that they are able to sustain themselves.
I’ll definitely see it.
Has anyone of you seen Voice Of India. They are still stuck to News. Suprising……
Today i saw them getting into astrology. But a debate & not astrology like on the other.
Hope they still stick to the normal stuff