Sensationalism- The Trending Demon

“Aaj  ki badi khabarein, suniye abhi tak ki daastan…..”

“We bring to you the latest news right from the location of the incident, as you can see the marks left….. Victim last seen near this petrol pump….Was victim drunk, was he murdered…..????”

“Sansanikhez”- English translation of the same is “Sensational”. That’s what we are feeding off from. No soul left in stating the fake from the facts.

A cricketer scored high runs but the focus is on his celebrity actress wife and how she blew kisses to him.

A man is getting killed for stealing something miniscule and harmless, but instead of saving him we are savagely enjoying his predicament and taking photos to publish and make money of his terrible situation.

A lady getting mobbed and molested and we are too busy digging into her past which village and college and all other photos appearing from nowhere.

An actress gives birth and the kid’s daily routine gets splashed all over screen and print media.

Everything not so nice but full of spice is selling like hot cakes whether it is hitting below the belt or simply presenting unnecessary speculations.

We are taking out buried skeletons and even adding our own imaginary ones to it. Sensational news is being fed to all minds young and old alike.

What are we? Definitely NOT reporters or journalists delivering straight hard core information but perpetrators of fictitious and irrelevant facts; We are cloaking the present reality with some glittering unforgiving moments from the past of a person who is no way capable of defending or presenting their side of the incident.

We are losing focus over the real issues and slowly disintegrating our value system like respecting the deceased, giving space to individuals, overexposing kids to the prying eyes of the public. Entering places which are forbidden and making mudslinging a profitable business.

What are we trying to project? That even if the person has amended his/her erroneous ways; we will never leave them alone or miss out any opportunity of reminding them of their inglorious past or misdeeds of the yore.

We will dig up unwanted and uncalled for details and make unsavory headlines making it a national pastime to delve into nonsensical statistics of a woman’s post pregnancy weight, past affairs of someone, posting pictures of kids without parental permission, making hyped and untrue speculations and completely erasing any fine lines between public information and privacy.

How would you feel if someone discussed your so called bedroom secrets? OR someone you trust spills the beans on what you do not wish to share? Where would you draw the line between public and private? Till what limits would you go to get juicy details about a person and make sensational news?

Image courtesy – www.internationalwomensday.com (main image) www.quotesliberary.org