ICSE Class 10 Answered

The fundamental motto of the media is to show nothing but the truth; unbiased, untwisted, and unaffected by politics. However, to stay in the race and survive as a successful news channel or newspaper, the media often sensationalises news and does it to such an extent that the original piece of news becomes unrecognisable. The Indian media has often been accused of twisting facts, popularising non-issues as real issues, branding people, religions, and communities, etc just to create sensation and attract more viewership or readership.

Twisting facts: One of the best examples is how the media repeatedly uses the tagline “XYZ News Exclusive’ when covering wars or terror attacks to show that they are the first to bring the news to the viewers. This takes away attention from the armed forces who are the actual heroes fighting to save the country and puts all attention on the news channel or newspaper.

Popularising non-issues: Recently, the wedding celebrations of a popular TV actress was given excessive media coverage. On some other news channels, photos of a recently divorced actress on a foreign holiday were making rounds. Earlier, the news about the same actress’s divorce was blown out of proportion and her privacy was compromised just to entertain viewers.

Branding: A certain terrorist organisation causing terror attacks doesn’t mean that an entire religious community is at fault. However, the ISIS or the Al-Qaeda’s acts of terrorism are often generalised as criminal acts by a particular religious community.