India lost to Australia and bowed out of the 2015 cricket world cup, but for the first time, Indian fans are not angry. They are sad. They know the team played well, and indeed did a great job of reaching this far.
But Times Now had some different views.
They played the oldest trick in the book of criminalizing the whole team and portraying the loss as extremely shameful and humiliating. Which was not the case. They must have had the idea of capitalizing on the anger of the supporters and lead the protest against team India. But it didn’t pan out the way they expected it to be. What Times Now started as #ShameinSydney ended up as #ShameonTimesNow.
Social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter were flooded with tweets against Times Now. People criticized the channel for being immature and stupid to react the way they did.
Exaggerating the team’s loss and blatantly criticizing the captain and the players didn’t go well with the (not blindly driven by the media) public. Those times are ceasing to exist when people would believe and support whatever the media would show. Indian audience has become more sensible in judging any issue. They are not easily affected by TV channels which sensationalize any news for the sake of publicity and viewership.
The major reason why this change has been inflicted is media itself. But a different form of it. Our sources are no longer limited to television and newspaper, online social media has become an integral part of our system. We don’t form an opinion, the moment we see something on a news channel. We analyze, give it a second thought and then decide for ourselves.
The slamming of Times Now is a huge victory for the people who are clearly not ready to get views imposed upon them by a news channel, no matter how much credibility they may have. This will go down as a warning to the whole of the media, that if they try to sensationalize an issue and blow it out of proportion, they won’t be spared. The Indian audience is ready to make a mockery of anyone who tries to use their powers to pollute the media.
The understanding of people about news and their participation in shaping the journalism of our country is worth motivating indeed. And I do believe that this fiasco has indeed marked a new era of journalism, what do you think?
#wedontfollowmediablindly
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