http://www.indianexpress.com/news/notes-from-news-tv/431877/
Notes from news TV Saubhik Chakrabarti Posted online: Mar 07, 2009 at 2336 hrs At least one advantage of having to watch news TV and think about it is that you can recall bits that may have been rendered unremarkable in a ‘pre-dinner/let’s flick the remote/catch the headlines’ viewing mode. I employ, for the purposes of this column, a ‘pre-dinner/let’s stay with this or that channel for a bit/take some notes’ viewing strategy. From my diligently jotted down research notes I bring you today this remarkable observation from CNN-IBN’s Face the Nation that debated the auction of Gandhi memorabilia. Middle of the show, the anchor asks the panel why anyone should create a fuss about auctioning Gandhi items when the Mahatma’s teachings have become irrelevant in a society dominated by terrorism and free market. That is deep. That is also news — it is certainly news that we are a society dominated by free market. Makes me wonder why some of us are always banging on about free market still getting short shrift in this country. Maybe we should watch more TV. News, too, is the apparent link proposed by this thesis between the free market and all sorts of nasty things. Indeed, the many questions engendered by the conflation of terrorism and free market are well beyond the scope of this column. I will only add that ‘Society dominated by terrorism’ also has a breaking news feel to it. One always thought we are a society targeted by, affected by terrorism. Are we dominated by it? Again, may be we should watch more TV. Had it not been for these thoughts I would have summed up CNN-IBN’s debate on Gandhiana as a break from Times Now’s passionate journalism on the Mahatma. Times Now has taken, and is taking, the battle to Pakistan and this week it was fighting for the country’s honour. ‘Stop this auction’ and ‘India’s legacy protected’ are among the milder stuff I came across. Times Now doesn’t do nuance, not when the nation is involved. Watching it can be fun sometimes. Allow me to come back to CNN-IBN, which seems to dominate my research notes this week. ‘Cricket vs terror: the new war games’. The title of CNN-IBN’s special show after the Lahore attack bore the channel’s signature assault against good world play. ‘Gandhi: going, going gone’; ‘Mahatma on the mall’; and ‘Money for the Mahatma’, all from Face the Nation mentioned earlier, spoke of the same intent. CNN-IBN had three former Indian cricket captains on the show, all three articulate and the Lahore attack was big news that evening. So, don’t blame me for having experienced a small frisson of expectation that an interesting discussion may follow. I blamed myself subsequently for not having understood the show. It must have been good. Just that I didn’t get it. Among the things I didn’t get: (1) The anchor’s question to panelists whether relationship between cricketers will suffer; even the panelists didn’t seem to understand that one. (2) The importance of the information that Bishan Singh Bedi had carried whisky to Pakistan once vis a vis the question whether Pakistan is changing as a cricket host. (3) Asking the ex-captains whether they will come out of retirement and go to Pakistan to play; Saurav said that’s got to be a joke, but maybe he, like me, didn’t understand the real import either. (4) Asking Kumble whether Murali, when the latter had spoken to Kumble immediately after the attack, had talked about taking a thousand wickets. (5) the anchor’s many variations on ‘will life go on (post-attack)’; ‘will life go on’, ‘will life really go on’, ‘can life go on’, etc. There was definitely something going on but I am afraid it had gone right over me. Sad to say that as far as watching news TV is concerned, it wasn’t the first time either. 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