By Ranjona Banerji
Two things strike you immediately about the way journalism is perceived in the UK: everyone complains about the media all the time and yet no one appears to read mainstream newspapers.
That sounds like a contentious and dichotomous statement. But there is little doubt now that the old-style newspaper is now an old world product. Instead, you have that other creature: the free newspaper which is now a regular if not a mainstay. The free newspaper sometimes could be the Evening Standard, which is read by commuters on the Underground who are not addicted to Candy Crush or staring vacantly into space.
And there is the neighbourhood paper which has local ads and local news which could be as diverse as a baby born on Christmas Day at a nearby hospital, a theatre personality with a gambling addiction and odd goings on at a local prison. These papers require a lot of hard work and ought not to be sneered at. How many reporters with a mainstream newspaper would climb up to the roof of a building to interview a prisoner who had escaped to the roof of the prison?
However, the influence of the media remains. Obviously the internet and television are the main sources of news but sooner rather than later the internet is going to be the clear winner. Every media house which is investing in mobile app technology is looking at the cash register going ka-ching and I cannot see TV keeping pace unless it runs down the same road.
It is also true that the UK at least benefits from not having nonstop hysterical and any number of 24-hour news channels. Plus, although people here do not stop making fun of the media for exaggerating issues and asking silly questions, can you imagine how anyone else in the world would react if they were subjected to our prime-time “debatesâ€? Perhaps we should have a time-sharing scheme with international news channels and export some of our savers of the nation so that they can go save the world? How peaceful life would be even if it put me out of a job…
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Meanwhile back in India as far as I can see, we are still seesawing between Pathankot, Malda and Arvind Kejriwal. Even the fact that Malini Parthasarathy resigned as editor of The Hindu in one more Kasturi family carousel ride could not keep the media engaged. Off everyone went on to the other roller-coaster ride: “you covered this but did not cover that, this news item is more important than that and you are an anti-national.â€
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The internet and international media is in a tizzy over actress Jennifer Lawrence’s treatment of a reporter at a post-Golden Globes press conference. The video doing the rounds shows the actress, who had just won an award, mocking a reporter for looking at his phone while asking her a question. It does seem clear that English was not the reporter’s first language and that is why he was possibly looking at his phone. Although there was some support for Lawrence on the internet, most people seem to find her needless nasty. The video does show some of the nonsense which reporters who deal with famous people have to put up with.
Interesting, the Golden Globes are given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Go figure.
Mashable has rounded up the story:
http://mashable.com/2016/01/11/jennifer-lawrence-globes-reporter/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-main-link#BnrJUe4W_gqr