I was recently watching an interview of Aamir Khan on Aaj Tak. The journalist interviewing him was asking him ridiculous questions like which actresses you want to work with, etc; pouring much unnecessary masala into it. Aamir Khan was giving well thought answers- that made sense. There was a clear distinction between the intellectual levels of Aamir Khan and this journalist, who was making a mockery out of himself. I asked myself- “Is this the state of Indian media today, or am I a part of the minority that hates such things on television? Are my countrymen watching THIS!!”
There was no clear answer. I referred to P Sainath sir- one journalist I do respect to the core. Modern day journalism has lost some of its major beats. Take the labour correspondent- when labour issues are covered at all, they come under the header of Industrial Relations, and they’re covered by business correspondents. That means they’re covered by the guy whose job is to walk in the tracks of corporate leaders, and who, when he deigns to look at labour, does it through the eyes of corporate leaders. Except P Sainath sir and a few others, we hardly see any agricultural columnists today, the columns don’t exist in today’s newspaper- unfortunately. Missing out in these two beats of journalism simply mean 70% of the people in this country don’t matter. Ok is not ok.