Please don’t laugh. Yes, we actually asked this question. And our Wizard with Words answered it. So, here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the January 13 edition of Das ka Dum. Have a great, festive weekend. Read on…
If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/
Q. With so many news channels carrying fake news, would you say that ‘kite-flying’ should be the Indian news TV media’s official sport, and Jan 14/15, the News Channel Day in India?
A. The question appears to me to be a sweeping generalisation and you have painted all news channels with the same brush. Today’s consumers are not so gullible that they accept fake news as real. Cross-verifications are always done by communities of shared interests and from other trusted media like print.
I liked your creativity of kite-flying and linked the high incidence of fake news in post-truth world to actual kite-flying day but it’s too dystopian and you needn’t be so pessimistic. Consumers are more intelligent than what one perceives.