One of my friends forwarded me an email today – a shot of Aaj Tak’s Breaking News screen with the words “Amitabh ko thand lagi”. For those of you who don’t understand Hindi, it means Amitabh is feeling cold.

I laughed at it but then wondered if it’s a correct reaction. Definitely not, if recent media behavior is anything to go by. Anyone who has watched the media circus for some time should have taken the endless clips of stone-pelting and beating up of North Indians shown during the recent disturbance in Mumbai with a pinch of salt. But what about thousands of gullibles who will take anything reported in media as pure Gospel? Won’t this spread violence in other areas where the people to suffer most will be ordinary law-abiding citizens and in many cases, the poorest of them?

I am not denying that these incidents didn’t take place. But the media blew it way out of proportion. Some of my friends were asked if there is curfew in the area. Anyone watching the news would have thought the Army is out patrolling the streets.

This indicates what damage the media is capable of and what damage it is already causing. I am afraid, very afraid that one of these days the media will go just too far and cause some serious damage.

There is one more danger. Many of these channels keep routinely showing news about some impending end-of-the-world event like a meteorite on a collision course with earth, a possible storm on sun that could block all electricity on earth, the earth’s softening core and so on and so forth. Many of these news pieces do have their origins in definite scientific research but the way they are shown (without reference to when the event is going to happen) could cause mass hysteria. On the other hand, people could get used to such stuff being telecast and God forbid if there is any real danger any day, no one will believe them, like the boy who cried wolf. Who is going to be responsible for the loss of lives?

What is needed is just one channel that will stand up and refuse to jump on the bandwagon, that will show only facts for news, that will appeal to citizens to keep calm in face of calamity, that will broadcast good news along with the bad, that will spread goodwill and hope, that will do what is expected of it and what is needed……

Is there anyone out there? Hai kisime itnaa dam?