The media and me

You can love the media, hate it, but simply can’t ignore it. Whether it be listening to the radio while driving, reading the newspapers, watching news, sports, serials, etc on TV, seeing movies in theatres, media pervades every part of our life and plays a role in shaping our views, our perceptions, our lifestyle. Whether this is good or bad I don’t know but I guess we have no choice.

I have been addicted to the newspaper since long. The Times of India gives you so much to read. They give you all the news – national, international, even city specific. If you want health tips they have it. Want to know what the celebrities are up to? Bombay Times is there.

TOI even carries a science page where new discoveries and research are reported (my personal favourite). They carry in-depth articles on important issues – SEZs, reservations, global warming, you name it they have it.

TOI has been widely criticized by many people for being a tabloid. They say it promotes crass commercialization, materialism, westernization. I remember one of our STI professors at IIMK also airing this view.

I agree TOI is commercial to the core. No other newspaper carries so many ads. They even have sponsored supplements once in a while. But what is wrong with that? Aren’t newspapers supposed to earn money? And people will only read the ads if they find the ad interesting. No one is being forced to read them.

Another criticism is that it is promoting westernization. One look at Bombay Times and you will say they are right. But again no one is forcing you to read it. It is just another way of life that they are projecting. If you don’t like it why don’t you start a new newspaper and project what you think should be the lifestyle to follow?

I flip through BT and read just the channel guide, the cartoon strips and the health page. It’s West-side Plus supplement gives me information on the state of infrastructure in the western suburbs and the initiatives being taken by citizens/ BMC to improve it. I don’t care a dime where the celebrities partied yesterday!! But I want the rest of the paper.

Every once in a while they give you something entertaining. Take for example the news about a cat which regularly catches and bus and goes to the market (don’t remember which city) or the cat which adopted a mouse or pics of Knut, the polar bear cub in a German zoo or the pic of the world’s smallest and tallest dogs. Some time ago there was an article on how dogs are being taught yoga! These are a welcome break from the daily dose of murders, rapes, allegations and counter-allegations by politicians, scams, etc.

Have loads of time and don’t know what to do? BT & Mumbai Mirror gives you loads of puzzles to keep you occupied for a few hours. They give you an entertainment guide, suggestions on what to do for the weekend, where to eat, etc. These could be handy for many.

All in all I think TOI is dam good J

I don’t watch much of TV. News channels are so repetitive. What I could read in a newspaper in 2 minutes runs on news channels for an hour. And the less said about the Serial Channels the better. The serials are utterly mindless and oh so predictable. But then millions of people do like them so it doesn’t matter to them whether I like the serials or not. They will continue to attract eyeballs for years to come. I watch only the movie channels and Discovery, NGC, History Channel. These are pasia vasool. And yes, sports sometimes. But the Indian cricket team’s consistently bad performances have killed my interest in cricket and I rarely watch the other sports.