"Silly season" ?

Today's news papers, or at least the one I read, carried a feature about Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto. We all know who they are as we have been subjected to an information bombardment about these two ever since Danny Boyle's film made a sweep in this year's Oscars.Today, the newspaper in question, used up considerable column centimetres to tell us that the duo was seen having dinner together at Trishna in London! My my, what audacity on their part! How dare they have a meal together? In fact, how dare they at all meet? To add insult to injury, Frieda and Dev did not end matters there! According to the news reporter they are often seen "cosying upto each other"! Apparantly, they even put up in the same hotel and ordered room service for champagne, chocolates and Eton Mess pudding! What shocking behaviour on the part of the two actors and what humdinger of a scoop by the reporter! Surely he deserves the highest award for investigative journlism? Not to forget a decoration for upholding the morallity of the nation!

Phew! I cannot help it but the journalism of today, what I come across daily either in the print or the electronic media, makes me want to kill! I read this particular newspaper because two of my favourite journalists (yes, I must admit, they do exist, albeit in tragic minority!) belong to it.I remember that one of these two had once talked about a journalist's "silly season". This is the season when there is not much happening and, therefore, to fill up news space the reporters and journos fill up newsprint with whatever they can find, or invent! I buy this point of view, although with a rider. The rider is that in India it seems the silly season never ends!

Firstly, nowadays, all the pages appear to be Page 3. Today a celebrity means either a fashion designer, a model, a cricketer, a film actor or a criminal.The amount of exposure they get is surely the envy of our Prime Minister! I wonder if we have any scientist, writer, philosopher, statesman, pioneers,economists, etc left in our country! Secondly,once the media channels, whether print or electronic, get hold of a news story they keep repeating it ad nauseum, for days and weeks together, till some other "breaking news" hits us! Incidentally, have you noticed how everything is breaking news, no matter how trite or stupid it is? How long can you be fed your daily dose of Delhi University admissions (as though we never studied in colleges!), Rakhi Sawant choosing a groom(which she never meant to in any case!), what Pakistan is telling us about 26/11 (it has been eight months, by the way!), what the Ambani brothers think of private gas! And of course, as Rupa very rightly has pointed out, what Kasab is saying every day! I mean, come on! Give us stuff that can be rightfully called fresh news. Get on with it! For heaven's sake be news reporters and newscasters, not hysterical, bumbling yet smug panic mongers and misdirected viewscasters !