[bkbkr1212]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Many of our Media Persons are simply "highly opinionated sensation seekers"

1. Barkha Madam tops the list in being probably the most irritating creature to be visible on TV
2. Uncle Arnab - opinionated, irritating and loud voiced to boot
3. Shreen Bhan - outshouts the person she is supposed to be interviewing
4. Vikram Chandra - indecisive, gutless fence-sitter
5. Rajdeep - any minute now he will leap at the TV screen and probably end up in my living room!
6. Sagarika - the less said the better. For her next birthday perhaps we should buy her a muzzle.
7. Karan Thapar - good god what is the man thinking or is he at all capable of proper thought?
8. Vir Sanghvi - amongst the most "affected, contrived, arriviste types" that I have ever had the displeasure of watching.
9. Shobhaa (+aaaa) De - what qualifies her to expound her opinions on everything under the sun id like to know?
10. Bachi Karkaria and Jug Suraiya - I think it is about time they retired gracefully instead of subjecting us to some incredibly bad puns and incredibly contrived humour - sad to see them plug away and keep trying to fight a losing battle with their own senility.

Forget the rest of them except maybe Senthil Chengalvarayan and his ilk - they have a certain "dignity" and "gravitas" - which I like and respect!

In todays scene very few of these presenters/ media people are above the eternal TRP race.

Prannoy Roy is still classy.

Not so his protege's.

Brilliant Shankar!!! Hilarious to the core.
Vir Sanghvi, used to like him a lot for his bluntness till the day I read the Radia transcripts.

I think Prannoy should do something to clean up the weed called Barkha.

After watching the show on NDTV when Barkha tried in vain to defend herself, I think she should have quit on her own if she has any iota of self-respect in her.
None of the questions were answered convincingly.

She was there yesterday also in "THE MUCK STOPS HERE"

[carboy]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

2. Uncle Arnab - opinionated, irritating and loud voiced to boot

Quite frankly, the way Arnab tried to incite people against Arundhati & Bhushan in an already charged 26/11 atmosphere was disgusting & possibly dangerous also.

Anyway, it's not too much use discussing the media. The introduction of the 24 hour news channels was essentially the death of news media not just in India, but also across the world.

Once you are a 24 hour news channel, you are no longer a serious channel, but you are competing against Sony, Zee, Star Plus etc - i.e. you become an entertainment channel. The fall side of this was that you had to have a lot of frivolous stuff to fill up the day. Once that started, the business end of the news channels quickly realized that it was cheaper to fill the whole day with frivolous stuff & sensationalism rather than spend money doing investigative journalism.

The only way for media to recover is by banning the 24 hour format - which will never happen.

[shankar.balan]

I got this some time back via email:
It may be a bit off topic but it sure is hilarious. Enjoy:

MEDIA IPL:TOP NEWS ANCHORS TO BE AUCTIONED
Inspired by the IPL, the major news channels have decided to auction
off their high-value assets to ride out the recession. Reputed
auditing firm Ricewaterspouse has already assessed the anchors and
submitted a detailed report to Lalit Modi. Don't ask us how we laid
our grubby hands on page 1 of this confidential report. Just dim your
screens and read silently.

Media assets under consideration.

ANCHORS

"I'm your soulmate. I complete your sentences, don't I?"

NAME: Rajdeep "pointus interruptus" Sardesai

SIGNATURE STYLE: Bark excitedly at faces on a giant screen.

USP: Appeals to a wide demographic; incredibly popular with Pomeranians.

CREDO: Create a channel out of thin air, then sustain it on hot air.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Rajdeep's fanatical commitment to the sound of his
own voice has the effect of rendering his guests speechless. Gone are
the days when politicians leisurely dangled their modifiers and
flaunted their participles while cunningly hiding their main clauses
in labyrinths of disclaimers. Today, they hurriedly pack all their
meaning into the first half of every sentence. Because once they reach
mid-sentence

Does every question in the universe have a Y or N answer? Y-73% N-27%

NAME: Sagarika "faze the nation" Ghose

SIGNATURE STYLE: Maddening high-pitched harangue.

USP: Wields voice with operatic prowess. Can go ultrasonic and sense
your location using sonar.

CREDO: Oversimplify or perish.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Knows that India is a nation teeming with
objective-type questions.. Just SMS QOTD Y or N. There is no negative
marking. If you're a guest, keep it short. If you veer off-script,
Sagarika will provide a heart-stoppingly unrecognizable summary of
whatever you just said. High on sartorial consistency, sleeves match
attention span.

"See the putty in my hands? That's you, dear viewer."

NAME: Barkha "she the people" Dutt

SIGNATURE STYLE: Let's give them something to fight about.

USP: Never ashamed to TeaR uP on camera.

CREDO: Have heartstring, will yank.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: If you're a guest on her talk show, she will find
your raw nerve and sandpaper it till you cry. And then she will cry
with you till the ratings go wild. It's like watching Jerry Springer
and Oprah at the same time. As a war correspondent, she will brave
gunfire and artillery shells, but not unfriendly blogs. If you so much
as suggest that she put soldiers in harm's way, she will make a
Cheytanya Kunte out of you (go ahead, google the poor wretch).
Currently anchors a show where the buck stops, but certainly not the
bak bak.

For every fact, there is an equal and opposite opinion

NAME: Arnab "the evangelist" Goswami:

SIGNATURE STYLE: Suppressed incandescent moral outrage of the
omniscient admonisher.

USP: Can unleash a 60-minute sermon while pretending to interview 5 guests.

CREDO: The apocalypse is upon us. Follow me.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In an industry obsessed with objectivity and
balance, Arnab comes as a breath of fresh air. In a nation obsessed
with humility and wisdom, Arnab comes as a breath of fresh air. One
could go on. Every evening, Arnab's forensic pyrotechnics make you
question the need for a judicial system in a nation equipped with
television studios. A man of destiny, Arnab knows that he will one day
save the world. Not surprisingly, he dresses like Clark Kent.

LEGACY STAFF

"I'm Socrates. You're a gorgeous Athenian lad."

NAME: Karan Thapar:

SIGNATURE STYLE: Nitpick. Nitpick. Nitpick.

USP: Extremely well connected.

CREDO: The privilege is all yours.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Talking to Thapar is the verbal equivalent of
getting a colonoscopy. Not recommended unless medically necessary, and
never to be attempted in public. Typical interview fragment:

Thapar: You're not saying "yes".... so does that mean you're saying "no"?
Guest: Not exactly.
Thapar: Ok so you're saying "not exactly"..... Does that mean a "not
exactly yes" or a "not exactly no"?
Guest: I'm saying neither.
Thapar (narrowing his eyes): So you're not saying "yes", you're not
saying "no", you're not saying "not exactly yes", and you're not
saying "not exactly no"... Would that be a correct assessment of what
you're saying?
Guest: I suppose so.
Thapar: You just contradicted yourself! A moment ago you were
absolutely certain and now you're no longer sure.
Guest: Well that's because-
Thapar: Thank you. It's been a pleasure talking to you.

"tell me honestly... didn't you think Skylab would fall on your head?"

NAME: Shekhar Gupta.

SIGNATURE STYLE: Obscure 80s nostalgia.

USP: Frighteningly well connected.

CREDO: Let's Walk the Talk. You walkie, me talkie.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Walks and talks with VIPs so VVIP that they won't
be caught dead near a television studio. Is the most hilariously
inattentive interviewer in the industry. Typical interview fragment:

Shekhar: So tell me about your strained relations with Pranab Mukherjee.
Chidambaram:As I was saying, last Sunday I had had just about enough
of his nonsense. So I-
Shekhar: You mean the PM?
Chidambaram: Not the PM. Pranab Mukherjee. So as I was saying, I went
up to him and told him to take a flying-
Shekhar: I remember during Rajiv Gandhi's time you were criticized for
fixing the price of tea.

---------its extremely funny but equally tragic that we have to suffer such clods gladly considering their extreme "in-your-face-ness" on the idiot-box-------.
cheers

[Sn1p3r]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I got this some time back via email:
It may be a bit off topic but it sure is hilarious.

---------its extremely funny but equally tragic that we have to suffer such clods gladly considering their extreme "in-your-face-ness" on the idiot-box-------. cheers

Very well put sir, applauds. It is indeed tragic. It is extremely embarrassing while your guests want to view News channels and you keep on switching channels because the blabbering is just too cockeyed.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by bkbkr1212

Their front page news articles are Ash-Abhi marriage(with photo), Sania's engagement and break up and blah blah blah. So can't expect anything more from this channel.

Very true. I remember one night Arnab was shouting and screaming that the enemy(pak) was at the door about 6 hours away. What are we gonna do ? Felt scary, but woke up next day with no special news.

Originally Posted by download2live

Things which trouble me are what I am supposed to teach my kids? The same hollow morals which were taught to me? Won't I be doing a disservice by feeding them on lies? Or should I tell them what really happens in Human society? The rule of jungle.

Absolutely. Should we not be preparing them for the carnage that they will face in their lives? or should we stick to what our parents taught us ?

Originally Posted by CaliAtenza

I think the channels need to tone it down a bit and stop shouting so much!

I don't understand why these people talk so fast and loud. That alone makes what what they are saying not credible.

Originally Posted by carboy

Once you are a 24 hour news channel, you are no longer a serious channel, but you are competing against Sony, Zee, Star Plus etc - i.e. you become an entertainment channel.

Correct, news channels should be taken purely for their entertainment value and not for the news they carry.

[jeeva]

I too voted for a yes.
Watched that Barkha dutt's interview on NDTV yesterday. Its quite pathetic to hear her say "it was just a judgmental error" and "these minor things do happen". She kept fudging around for many of the questions raised by the panel, especially Manu Joseph until it was time up.
I too think the interview was a carefully orchestrated one, except for may be one or two members.

[shankar.balan]

Barkha Dutt, Sagarika Ghose (Ghost!!) and Karan Thapar are according to me, the epitomization of the two terms - "Scum of the earth" and "Dregs of Society".

• Ideally they should all be muzzled permanently and then incarcerated (solitary confinement) in some maximum security facility deep underground forever - somewhere like Akzaban springs to mind - a la Harry Potter, and of course with some suitably nasty creatures-from-under-a-flat-stone, surrounding each of their cells and performing guard duty on them.
• They should be given a rope bed each (charpoy) and one sheet only. No need for blanket and all that.
• The preferred diet for them should be 2 slices of plain dry (stale) bread and about 250ml of water every 2 days.
• They should have no light, no books, no nothing - but there should be a TV set in each of their prison cells which shows them nothing but re-runs of all their own various news stories and interviews and so on, played at 120 decibels flat - no volume control or remote control to be provided of course.
• And just for fun, they should occasionally interchange all three of their various respective interviews and news stories and play them to each of them on their TV's - also at 120 decibels volume.

If I were the King and Judge this would be my non-negotiable sentence to be administered to these three creepies. No recourse to commutation of sentence for good behaviour and all that soppy stuff. This is IT. FINAL!!

Originally Posted by jeeva

I too voted for a yes.
Watched that Barkha dutt's interview on NDTV yesterday. Its quite pathetic to hear her say "it was just a judgmental error" and "these minor things do happen". She kept fudging around for many of the questions raised by the panel, especially Manu Joseph until it was time up.
I too think the interview was a carefully orchestrated one, except for may be one or two members.

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by bkbkr1212

I think Prannoy should do something to clean up the weed called Barkha.

If it had been a Pvt company owned by Roy that would have happened, but it's not. The shareholders would wan't only TRPs and dividends.

Originally Posted by carboy

Once you are a 24 hour news channel, you are no longer a serious channel, but you are competing against Sony, Zee, Star Plus etc - i.e. you become an entertainment channel. The fall side of this was that you had to have a lot of frivolous stuff to fill up the day.

True.
Twitter is a better source of news i believe.

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Very true. I remember one night Arnab was shouting and screaming that the enemy(pak) was at the door about 6 hours away. What are we gonna do ? Felt scary, but woke up next day with no special news.

These guys survive by creating Paranoia.
Their cricket editor Majumdar reports/shouts as if somebody set fire to his OB van and soon the van will explode destroying the entire country.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I got this some time back via email:
It may be a bit off topic but it sure is hilarious. Enjoy:

good one.
do post jokes about the other news jokers/anchors if you have.

[saildrive]

I keep asking myself - what can one do in a situation like this! And will any of this that we are doing on this forum or anyother for that matter result in any

Its frustrating and demotivating watching these guys rake up issues - blow hot - blow cold as an when they feel its necessary.

I remember:

1) Prince got stuck in a well / tube well or something of that sorts - it was plastered in each and every channel - with some channels pledging for his education, money and what not

I REALLY WISHED IT WAS ME.... I WOULD HAVE MADE A LOT OF MONEY

2) On a serious note - I have read and heard of atleast another 3-4 instances of kids getting stuck... no coverage / some even did not even make it

NO COMPENSATION WHATSOEVER

3) Its just become mere titilation of one's nerves - a) Manu Sharma (Jessica Lal), b) the man who ate kids / molested them c) Rathore / Ruchika d) 26/11 e) Tapes of 2G spectrum f) Adarsh scam g) Amir Khan getting in Narmada aandolan h) Shabana Azmi talking about the pathetic roads in Bandra / during monsoons.... the list goes on and on

EACH OF THEM MENTIONING THAT ITS THEIR TV CHANNEL'S EXCLUSIVE NEWS AND A FIRST THAT IT IS...... TALKING ABOUT HOW EACH AND EVERYONE IS OUT THERE TO TAKE OUR MONEY, PORTRAYING DEATH, HOW ROTTEN THE SYSTEM IS AND HOW THE POWERFUL CAN GET AWAY WITH EVERYTHING THEY DO

4) Irony is - I do turn on the TV and check what each of these damn TV channels say. Its become a fodder to my brain.....makes me ask myself.... how screwed things are and will they ever or may be never change.

IF YOU NOTICE - EACH AND EVERY MISCREANT OR ACCUSED SAYS ONE THING FOR SURE - I BELIEVE IN THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM OF THE COUNTRY AND TRUTH WILL PREVAIL. DAMN IT WILL PREVAIL COS BY THE TIME THE TRIAL BEGINS .... ENOUGH DOUGH HAS REACHED RESPECTIVE HANDS

To sum it all - as the saying goes "When one is getting raped.... you either fight it or enjoy it" and I dont see myself doing anything else but being a spectator to all this that is going around. Issues will be unearthed time and again, skeletons from the closet will be removed to demean someone or the other, each more guilty than the other; so the point is that ' i am corrupt, but less corrupt than you'.

Look at us (me included) for that matter - most of us drive and each and everyone drives through hell, pays toll, taxes, PUC checks, pay all god forsaken taxes - see repair works go on and on never getting done and if repaired are dug again.

Look at this so called system... we abuse it, ridicule it, accuse it, but can hardly do anything about it and in short have become a part of it. In hindsight when a channel presenter or his correspondent says that after they shwed a pothole on a busy road after wich the BMC actioned and covered it.....could be one of the few reasons why people across the country are watching and fetching these channels TRP's

[airbender]

I posted some comments on the video for the editors meet with barkha(unedited) at NDTV. Not just mine but I see none of the comments in that section. Can NDTV get any worse?

[rock18]

I stopped watching headlines today after getting irritated with their coverage of WWE on a regular basis.
Whenever i switch on the channel,They had some 30mt stories like "Great khali is back" "Great khali's great revenge,John cena is the new world champion,etc. and talk some B@#@$ stories about it as if its a real wrestling. Not something i would like to watch on a reputed news channel.
I am not sure why there are promoting WWE?

All the new channels are slowly and steadily loosing credibility.

Regional channels are so biased towards their party.
SUN news never even uttered once about A.Raja but daily keeps on providing the same news that "parliment is not functioning for nth day beacause of the 2G spectrum incident"

Will go back to reading newspapers...

[SchumiFan]

Many here have commented on how they have stopped watch NDTV, HT, Times Now etc, which is a welcome change. But can someone share some links where we can get some opinion on world news without any bias towards a party or religion or a person?

Also it is not about how many of us have stopped watching these *hit, but how many have we stopped from taking in this rubbish fed to them.

Finally I am happy that all these chameleons have had their original colors exposed to the public. They seemed to have had a free rein for quite some time and the media made best use of it, but the truth is coming to light now

[airbender]

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

Many here have commented on how they have stopped watch NDTV, HT, Times Now etc, which is a welcome change. But can someone share some links where we can get some opinion on world news without any bias towards a party or religion or a person?

There is no media/channel in the world which is not biased. But I find CNN in US, Indianexpress & hindu in india among the better ones. BBC when they covered the london bomb blasts they used the term terrorists for the attakers but for 26/11 they called them gunmen.

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

Also it is not about how many of us have stopped watching these *hit, but how many have we stopped from taking in this rubbish fed to them.

If every one of us boycott NDTV they will go bankrupt in few years. But that does not happen in our country. People who are boycotting NDTV or HT now are very few when compared to their total viewership.

[Ragul]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I got this some time back via email:
It may be a bit off topic but it sure is hilarious. Enjoy:
NAME: Karan Thapar:

cheers

Zimbly luved it!!

Originally Posted by airbender

BBC when they covered the london bomb blasts they used the term terrorists for the attakers but for 26/11 they called them gunmen.

BBC is controlled by Paki interests. Follow their coverage on Kashmir and you will know what I mean.

[airbender]

Rajdeep Sardesai joins the list of guilty by defending Barkha and Vir.

Here is a nice article:

When Rajdeep Sardesai got it left, right & centre sans serif