Paid news: One more reason to get away from all the NEWS!

I was listening to heated conversations over television news channels the other day. The persons in the studio and away from the studio eloquently shared their agonies about the widespread ‘paid news’ phenomena in the Indian media. Who said this? Not any politician or activist. These are told to the public by representatives from the leading media houses, regulatory bodies related to the media, and associations of media men. All of them agreed that money brings or blocks news. We heard of payment seats in educational institutions. Similarly, we have paid news in the media. All along it was an allegation from outside. Now it is official!

This reminds me of one of my articles written a few years back. Let me reproduce it before you. You can read the full text by clicking 'full article' at the end.

My son! Please don't watch the news

(SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2010)   

Like any other child of his age, my son was addicted to TV since he started going to school. He took the control of the remote and I was at his mercy to keep the remote for at least for some time in my hand. He was keener on watching cartoons aired simultaneously by several competing channels. He learned all the theme songs of various animated shows and thoroughly enjoyed watching all of them whenever he is awake at home. Both my wife and me had to quietly allow this obsession as we were left undisturbed during that period. We could hear protracted loud laugh as he watched those shows from the TV room. As he grew bigger and elevated from primary classes to middle school, he was loaded with enormous homework and assignments. His class notes became shabby and he was hardly keen on correcting the notes written by him. He preferred just to listen to the lectures of the teachers and do nothing. That is what he got habituated through the cartoon programmes. Just watch the show and enjoy. Nothing to think and nothing to do. 

Like most of the young parents who live in nuclear families, we also thought that the art of training the children and upbringing them are ‘trial and error’ as no parent qualified a proficiency test in child rearing. My son’s diminishing interest in academics has worried us. And my wife .....Click here for full article