One day while watching 24 hrs news channels, my memory went back to Doordharshan (India’s official terrestrial channel) days. At that time people were dying for the news. I used to sit in front of my TV from 9 P.M to 9.30 P.M for the daily English news. Though the news was always tilted in favour of Government; still it was worth watching to know what are the latest developments happening in this country. The news used to be crisp and short without any commercial break.

The whole news was being focused on country’s development and its relations with other countries. No attempt was made to hype or underplay any news. Every news got the right spot as it deserved. Due to its popularity, the news readers at that time became national icons.

What happens now? After the invasion of 24 hrs satellite news channels, the whole scenario has changed to the worst. Watching news in TV is no longer the same as it was before. Due to competition among the news channels they are vying with each other to bring sensation in their channels rather than the news.

If any disturbance happens in any corner of the country, they hype it in various angles to trigger more unrest among the people. It is really pathetic and painful the way they handle the crime news. During lengthy commercial breaks we veru often forget what you were watching!

Few years back when school children roasted alive in a school at Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu (India), almost all satellite news channels were showing repeatedly how the bodies of the tiny tots were dumped in a truck with a shovel. Wherever bomb blasts happens, they report the news so minutely by showing the blood splattered spots with limp and legs strewn every where around the place.

Few months back when Tamil super star Rajnikanth’s movie Sivaji released, all the English news channels allotted at least half an hour for a fortnight to show how the film sivaji was made. Recently when a boy fell into a pit, the news channels were telecasting live the rescue operations of the boy! These channels reached their absurdity when they took our valuable time to tell us about a popular female character dying in a Hindi mega serial.

It is really disgusting to watch news on these channels. I would like to go back to my olden days when watching news was a pleasant experience.