News and Butter chicken

We have people called Animators in our organisation. Agitators, conscience keepers, they are supposed to be. Some of them complain once in a while, "Earlier when people were suffering, we used to give them confidence and they listened to us. Now that they are better off, they do not listen to us. It is difficult to get their attention if we talk about unpleasant things like alcoholism. It is easy to discuss things which they like to hear - like giving loans or other goodies."



We used to say in these discussions : "Animator is a person who always says things which are not liked by others. If people are doing the right thing, then there is no need for an animator. However difficult it is, that is our job."

So, recently when I read an article by Outlook's Vinod Mehta on the role of media, I was interested. In the new Market capitalism, the mantra is "consumer is the king and the companies should satisfy his needs." Is it the same for media also ? Here is Mehta's speech on this :

Consumer is Kinky

"Content is more, much more than what readers want. It also has social dimension. Thus, content is a mix of what the reader wants and what he does not want.

The new journalism is entirely based on reader or viewer demands. So, we are told the reader is king and it is the job of a responsible media organisation to provide cent percent satisfaction. This perception is now so widely accepted that to argue against it is like whistling in the dark. Those who believe otherwise are seen as cranks, out of touch with the contemporary market - that is, the reader. If journalism is a consumption item like butter chicken, then why not give the customer the flavour and taste he wants ? That after all, is the first rule of free market capitalism.

This piece of nonsense is outrageously and self-evidently absurd and dangerous. To demolish it is urgent. To let it become the benchmark of our profession is to put in peril everything we have worked for in 60 years."

Well said, Vinod Mehta. News churned out by our magazines and TV news channels are not butter chickens. And, as you said, Consumer is Kinky. He needs to be told things he does not like to hear. Even She, for that matter, needs to be told things she does not like to hear !

Musings of course has other problems. While the consumers are reasonably okay, the author (editor) is kinky beyond any hope of correction ...