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Ramblings
Sensationalism and the Media
by Rajesh Talwar
 The
tabloid press in India sells far fewer papers as compared with the
broadsheet newspapers and are largely confined to the metros. On the
other hand it is no secret that tabloids in England sell more than
newspapers and earn more advertising revenue.
At the same time over the past few years in India, there has been what
can only be called a ‘tabloidisation’ of the national newspapers with
major newspapers like the Hindustan Times and The Times of India
printing a separate section on the city. This section of the paper is
generally flush with photographs of glamorous personalities and is
accompanied by a write up that is a mish mash of juicy tidbits and
gossip from the filmi, fashion and corporate worlds. It does however
remain within a certain code of decency.
It can be said therefore that over the last decade or so the national
press has become less serious sensing an interest in its younger
readership for more lighthearted fare. By introducing lighter fare that
accompanies the more serious pages the newspapers have increased their
readership and simultaneously kept the tabloids at bay, for the tabloids
do not then have anything special to offer.
Can we envisage a time in India in the not to distant future when
tabloids will overtake the broadsheets in terms of sales? This could
happen only with the emergence of a yet greater appetite within the
reading public for even greater sensationalism and stories with sexual
overtones. For it would not suit the broadsheets to carry overly
salacious material even on its city pages. They are already walking a
tight rope in this regard. They would lose stature and all sense of
serious debate and opinion were they to do this and further alienate its
conservative readership, which is already unhappy with the increased
focus on fashion and gossip in the city pages.
Tabloids have the advantage of keeping a smaller number of staff on
their payrolls and their overheads are also less. This is true even with
the hot selling Sun or Mirror in the UK as compared with big newspapers
such as The Times or The Guardian.
With the emergence of Cable (and now Satellite) television in India
there has come about an increased awareness and with it notions of
morality too are changing. While this can be seen to be positive in some
respects, there are negative consequences as well. It can be seen
therefore that with respect to television drama, adulterous affairs are
thrown into serials to spice them up even where the story line does not
demand them. This has tended to lower the general quality of serials.
With respect to the print media, the quality of the writing in a tabloid
is generally inferior to that of a newspaper. The views are also less
sophisticated and not nearly as well presented or argued. It can even be
said that tabloid journalists are instructed by their editors to write
in a simple fashion (if not more grossly).
'There is some truth in such an observation,' admits Gavin Evans, a
practicing journalist of many years who now teaches journalism at the
London School of Journalism (LSJ). 'The only thing that I can say is
that you do need a certain kind of ability to come up with the puns the
tabloids often come up with.'
Serious students of journalism however often evince reluctance to work
for the tabloid press. 'I would never ever consider applying for a job
with a tabloid,' says Myles Myall, a student at the LSJ, who previously
studied Russian politics and is keen to report and make journalistic
contributions on events happening in Russia. In India, as yet the
tabloids offer few jobs to wannabe journalists but this could change in
the future.
Yes, tabloids as opposed to the broadsheets survive on sensationalism. –
"Twelve Year Old Brutally Raped and Butchered, Why Can't Britain Kich
This Man off Out of the Country, This Man is Poison, Gay Man Sells Sperm
to Lesbian Couple for One Pound ...." These are a small
sample of the kind of headline that will scream at the reader in the
United Kingdom. The journalists who write for them are careful to use
shorter sentences and simpler English even while writing features as
opposed to news reports. They are after all writing for an audience
whose core readership is relatively less educated as compared to the
readership of a national newspaper.
Is this then part of what Nobel Laureate VS Naipaul refers to as the
‘plebianisation’ of English culture? The unfortunate side effect of wide
spread literacy. It is all very well to argue in favor of freedom of
speech and say: ‘Let a thousand flowers bloom’. On the other hand it is
not difficult to have sympathy with the somewhat elitist hope that even
when censorship laws are loosened in India - as they inevitably will in
time to come - the British kind of tabloid press will not emerge in the
country in any major way.
December 17,
2006
Image under license with
Gettyimages.com
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Ramblings
The Week of December 17, 2006
India: The Shining, The Suffering and The
Pampered by Dr. Subhash Kapila
Modus Operandi of Empires by Gaurang Bhatt, MD
China: Balancing Power Relations in South and
South-East Asia
by Col. Rahul K. Bhonsle
Special Economic Zones: Boon or Disaster? by
Ramesh Menon
Manmohan Singh's Dangerous Declaration of 2006
by V. Sundaram
Health of Nations by J. Ajithkumar
Is there non-discriminatory Rule of Law in India?
by V. Sundaram
In Their Right Minds by Linda Light
Ethnic Issue Overtakes Nepal's Class War? by
Rita Manchanda
Looking Ahead in Gujarat by Manjari Sewak
Look Who's Talking! by Manisha Parekh
World Brotherhood: Love and Peace through
Poetry by Shernaz Wadia
Science, Arts and Literature for Human Culture
by TA Ramesh
River from the Land of Mystique Spells Doom
by VK Joshi
Keeping Thyroids in Order by Fehmida Zakeer
HIV/AIDS Bill -Pushing the Legal Envelop by
Kajal Bhardwaj
Papiya Ghosh: From JS to an End by Dr. Amitabh
Mitra
Hope for Battered Women by Marlinelza B. de
Oliveira
Homework for Men by Mini Sharma
The Perversity of Periyarana by V. Sundaram
A Shadow from Past Life a Story by Manasi Dutt
Romancing the Desert by Attreyee Roy Chowdhury
A Rebel of Innocence - 3 by Ashwini Ahuja
Roads in Chennai by Glory Sasikala Franklin
My God, What Have You Done! by Dhiraj
Bhimji Raniga
Sensationalism and the Media by Rajesh Talwar
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