How is the condition of our TV channels, it is being known from the debate going on in the Supreme Court these days. The court has demanded from the government that it should make strict laws to stop hate speeches on TV channels. The words heard have more effect than the words read. The hate, humiliation and obscenity that is poured on TV channels affects crores of people instantly.
The court has also said that TV anchors do ludicrous things, insult the speakers, call people who repeat their favorite things to speak, to increase the TRP of their channel. The court has also pulled up the anchors, saying that they give less opportunity to the speakers and keep on pulverizing their pulses. The reality is that nowadays almost all the TV channels in India are entangled in the arena.
One or two channels are the exception but most of the channels want their speakers to shout at each other and the audience to stick to those channels. Neither experts nor unbiased intellectuals are called on our channels these days! The owners of the channels are busy in proving their selfishness by calling party spokespersons. That’s why our TV channels, as they were called earlier in America, have come to be called ‘idiot box’ or ‘foolish box’.
The Law Commission of India had suggested that a new section in the Indian Penal Code should be added to punish those who spread hatred, obscenity, crime, profanity and communalism from TV channels. This concern and advice of the Supreme Court and the Law Commission deserves attention but it is almost impossible to implement properly. It is not easy for the court to decide which word spoken on TV is proper or inappropriate and is extremely time consuming. It is good if a law is made, but more important than that, the TV channel itself should show self-restraint.
Only educated and serious people should be made anchors. Invite only those people for the debate, who are knowledgeable and fair on the subject. Avoid the riots of party-spokesmen. If called for, their statements should first be recorded and edited. Anchors should have the right to ask questions but not to impose their opinion. Our TV channels are the strongest pillars of Indian democracy. If their condition remains as it is, then our democracy may also become hollow.
