A Matter of Trust
An interesting piece of news turned up today about how much nations trust their media. Indians fare quite high up on the charts. Going by the number of News Channels and Newspapers the country has today it seems that the people still have faith in the various newscasters in the country.
What's also interesting to note is that channels like Star News and NDTV score lower than a channel like Aaj Tak in the trust factor. Why? May be the people prefer to accept a channel that does not seem as slick or that has the look and feel of an international channel. I say this because Doordarshan scores quite high as well. They also are not known for their slick presentation either.
It could also be the sum total that increases the trust people have in a publication or a TV channel. In the case of the News Channels the presenters play a big role. The way they deliver the news. Many reporters in the field give in to the temptation of getting too excited and dramatic. I think the pressure of keeping the ratings up has something to do with it. Just sounding sensational without actually backing it up by solid hard facts is what viewers can now see through. They have now been educated enough to filter out the “Spin”.
I am not saying that Star News and NDTV are not good news channels but it is quite an eye opener to find out, that the leading news channels are not scoring high with the viewers when it comes to trust. In fact trust is all you have when it comes to news, without it news becomes only entertainment.
Still I have not given up just yet. Our TV industry is still young. It is constantly evolving. Which is good. At the moment may be we are trying to ape the west a little too much. What works for Sky News in the UK may not work for Star News in India. Formats need to be developed within the country that involves the viewers and mere replicating of shows from the US and UK will not work in India in the long run. Even in the entertainment channels you can see that that the last Indian Idol series on SET was not as successful as the first one.
Our culture is rich enough to get good ideas from. I Think.
Author : Sasha Masand
Sasha Masand the founder of Indian Voice Overs is an award winning Television Producer who has been part of the Indian media industry for over twelve years. |
