Hyping stories irritate viewers

Bhubaneswar, July 27(Reporters Today Bureau): The hype created by the electronic media and a section of the social media is no more entertaining or informative for the viewers.

A survey of few households across the capital city and other places has revealed that the ‘breaking news’ syndrome is gradually becoming a headache for viewers, especially the elderly, who switch on their TVs for fresh information and not just capsuling or re-capsuling news and trying to make them sensational.

A retired government official said that it is okay to see something ‘unusual’ involving a prominent or popular personality. “But devoting undue ‘time and space’ just to gain TRP is not acceptable,” he said.

According to a housewife in the IRC village area of the capital city, the time and space accorded to news stories that is seldom ‘Breaking’ is bound to be irritating.

She pointed out to the story on the brawl between the wife of actor Babushan and actress Prakruti Mishra recently on the streets of Bhubaneswar does not deserve so much of space or time on the Television.

“What are we trying to show. Family discord, extramarital affairs, disturbances in celebrity families. What are we teaching to our younger generation,” she asked.

According to her, there are many stories which need to be highlighted in the society. But the efforts of the media, especially the electronic, has been to highlight issues in the form of “breaking news’ to attract only a section of the society, she asserts.

A Class X student, who did not want to be identified, said, “I am not interested in stories like Trupti-Prakruti quarrel. I was forced to switch of the TV as a very long time was devoted to the story. “The most shocking was presence of the reporters of a leading channel at the airport to cover Babushan’s return from Chennai. Was Babushan returning after winning a medal in the Olympics?” he said.

A recent column in an Odia daily newspaper on ‘Breaking News’ was worth reading, said an elderly viewer.