Media- "Irresponsibilty Personified"
Who is responsible for the Saurav Ganguly episode??
Ganguly was out of the team owing to health issues and his companions like V.V.S Laxman and Yuvraj Singh played well in his absence. He therefore, needs to fight to win his place back.
But why does the media create an issue about it??
Is he bigger than the game??
Or the game himself?
Before the ODI at the Eden Gardens Kolkata, the Telegraph, which is the most widely, read English newspaper in kolkata came out with an article on its cover. The article summarized the ODI as the contest between two individuals rather than two teams. It summed up that on that given day the battle was not between the Indian tigers and African elephants rather was a battle between the Saurav and Greg Chappell. Such article was of a rather bad taste and I think referring to this act as “irresponsible” on the part of such a powerful Press Agency is not an understatement.
There was a regional channel which had comments from local people as "No Saurav No Cricket" and “Aami Prothame Bangaali Tarpore Indian” which translates into "I am first a Bengali than an Indian". The same day on the eve of the ODI the Indians scored 188 or close to that. During the Interval the Electronic scoreboard showed that DADA scored a 138 not out against some side in Ranji cricket. The scoreboard was sponsored by the Telegraph group. This further agitated the supporters and it also hurt the sentiments of the Indian Side which had lost moral after half the match was over.
Such acts should be seriously regulated as they not only hurt the sentiments but also introduce a regoinalistic flavour into the masses.
The next days headline of the same newspaper read “INDIA 188 ALL OUT . SAURAV 138 ONE OUT”
The rest is history. Even the politicians “ne behte ganga me haath dho li” by politicizing the issue by discussing it in parliament. The Indian Leaders or more aptly called “Politicians” used the precious hours of the parliament to discuss this Bullshit. This episode shows that how foolish the masses are in India. There were also rumours of a “Bandh” in Kolkata but Dada chipped in and requested the masses to call it off.
Is this responsibility on the part of the Press?
A couple of days later Amitabh Bachan falls ill and guess what all the press and tv news channels give it exclusive coverage. I mean are we Indians fools? Each Newspaper headlines gave his medical developments its Cover story. Each news channels discussed his ailment at length for hours. Is this our “Sapno ka Bharat” where greater issues like education, illiteracy , aids awareness and corruption take a backseat?
I think it is time for a change.
