Brilliant. As always. The ship has sailed. We're in "deep shit" due to "dipshirs". And there's Nothing any of us can do except gawk, swallow and maybe run from the blaze that is consuming us. Yesterday was Mother's Day I believe and we call our country, our nation Bharat Mata. I wonder how she feels. Enough said. Thank you Prem, for all that you write. Your essays should be compiled in a book form. At least there'll be some recording of history for the next gen to know the times we lived through.
Thanks for reading, Renuka, and not for the first time, I wish I lived in a world where I could write light, airy, fluffy stuff. As to running from the blaze, it is sadly all round us.
The press briefing was done by Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt. General Rajiv Ghai, Director General Air Operations (DGAO) Air Marshal AK Bharti and Director General of Naval Operations (DGNO) Vice Admiral AN Pramod and not by the Service Chiefs!
It’s a circus going out there on electronic media. The finger tip conveniences have sadly transformed into keyboard trigger-happy mutants. Everything has a 3 min entertainment value.
Sadly that’s the world and a few
of the ‘world-leaders’ are fuelling that pack. Their collective leader is the self proclaimed ‘trade or tirade’ personality, trying to establish a new order and some fools are following the template.
And not just the electronic media, either -- the rot is too deep. Last night, I saw this jaw-dropping post from "India's premier news agency", to wit, ANI. Exact quote:
After initial sightings of drones in Jammu, Samba, Akhnoor and Kathua, the Indian army confirms no drone sightings. The ceasefire situation prevails: sources."
What to make of it? After sightings, army confirms no sightings? What does that even mean? And why must something this important -- we are talking of possible ceasefire violations in the immediate aftermath of the PM's speech -- be sourced to anonymous "sources"? Any newsroom -- far less a "premier" news agency -- knows to pick up the phone and call the DGMO's liaison officer before blabbering about sightings that are not sightings, but even such absolutely basic due diligence isn't SOP today.
Maybe there is a silver lining. The contrast between the print (only print - sadly their own digital avatars were equally irresponsible) and what TV turned might lead to a revival of the former. I know it is a faint hope but as former print man I want to cling to straws.
No it won't. The newspaper will not die, but it is well on the way to irrelevance and there is no, to use a phrase now made popular, "off ramp". My point about having to walk a km and a half to find a newspaper outlet was making that point. I am from print, too, but sadly, I don't see it. (More particularly since the era of the philanthropic publisher is long dead).
1. While at conflict, the pressers were helmed by a civilian, with armed forces only present to provide updates. It shows that the defense is at work, not to worry. The absence of a minister in these pressers was also notable. As opposed to Shehbaz Sharif addressing his nation everyday, Our ministers took a step back, which IMO was really commendable. It also shows that the issue is so easily managed that none of the bigwigs are required to assuage the people.
2. The military pressers after the war: To the point, sharing as much as is authorised without any chest thumping or false bravado. No claims of casualties even if they happened, because we aren't one to glorify death, we're on the side that fights against it.
Now for the bad side: I'm a media student, so it's a personal loss to see journalism take such a huge hit. There used to reporters we used to idolise. You could ask a child on the street to name a good news anchor and he'd tell you five. Now news sources have changed and standards of reporting have taken a hit. It's easier to trust a blogger who furnishes his sources than trust the face on the TV. Even newspaper reading today requires hyperawareness. Palki Sharma did a great job, and has been doing for a while. It was funny to see mainstream media's news being debunked on telegram channels this time. Air Marshall AK Bharti himself took some videos from open source intelligence rather than media's footage. They know the lens has shifted, so the pressure to maintain the quality is off.
"You guys see 'objectives' in excel sheet terms -- buildings destroyed, deaths. We see objectives differently. Warfare is changing rapidly, new technologies are emerging almost every other month. Our objective is learning -- learning how our weapons systems work in an actual hot zone; learning what the adversary's weapon systems are capable of, and what the weaknesses are. All of this helps us fine tune our war preparedness; it tells us where we need to invest." -- This, on Signal from a serving officer, is the context and nuance I was looking for. I both understand and agree -- war is no video game, and for all that we want quantifiable "wins", that is not how it works.
And yes, I share your sense of loss (even as I take some hope in the fact that there are still people interested in the media -- the biggest problem would be indifference. More power to you.
Your last sentence would have been my comment for your article! It doesn’t look like there is any threshold at which we can say that the current electronic and digital media landscape could collapse. We are stuck in a vicious loop in which the utter nonsense spewed by the irresponsible media is feeding more demand for even more utter nonsense!
Brilliant. As always. The ship has sailed. We're in "deep shit" due to "dipshirs". And there's Nothing any of us can do except gawk, swallow and maybe run from the blaze that is consuming us. Yesterday was Mother's Day I believe and we call our country, our nation Bharat Mata. I wonder how she feels. Enough said. Thank you Prem, for all that you write. Your essays should be compiled in a book form. At least there'll be some recording of history for the next gen to know the times we lived through.
Thanks for reading, Renuka, and not for the first time, I wish I lived in a world where I could write light, airy, fluffy stuff. As to running from the blaze, it is sadly all round us.
The press briefing was done by Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt. General Rajiv Ghai, Director General Air Operations (DGAO) Air Marshal AK Bharti and Director General of Naval Operations (DGNO) Vice Admiral AN Pramod and not by the Service Chiefs!
Thank you, my bad for using shorthand.
It’s a circus going out there on electronic media. The finger tip conveniences have sadly transformed into keyboard trigger-happy mutants. Everything has a 3 min entertainment value.
Sadly that’s the world and a few
of the ‘world-leaders’ are fuelling that pack. Their collective leader is the self proclaimed ‘trade or tirade’ personality, trying to establish a new order and some fools are following the template.
And not just the electronic media, either -- the rot is too deep. Last night, I saw this jaw-dropping post from "India's premier news agency", to wit, ANI. Exact quote:
After initial sightings of drones in Jammu, Samba, Akhnoor and Kathua, the Indian army confirms no drone sightings. The ceasefire situation prevails: sources."
What to make of it? After sightings, army confirms no sightings? What does that even mean? And why must something this important -- we are talking of possible ceasefire violations in the immediate aftermath of the PM's speech -- be sourced to anonymous "sources"? Any newsroom -- far less a "premier" news agency -- knows to pick up the phone and call the DGMO's liaison officer before blabbering about sightings that are not sightings, but even such absolutely basic due diligence isn't SOP today.
That is where we are.
Superb! As an old school media person, I am only ashamed at the sad circus digital media has collapsed into. Print, hoy!
Both shame, and grief, and a sense of helplessness. Yes.
Maybe there is a silver lining. The contrast between the print (only print - sadly their own digital avatars were equally irresponsible) and what TV turned might lead to a revival of the former. I know it is a faint hope but as former print man I want to cling to straws.
No it won't. The newspaper will not die, but it is well on the way to irrelevance and there is no, to use a phrase now made popular, "off ramp". My point about having to walk a km and a half to find a newspaper outlet was making that point. I am from print, too, but sadly, I don't see it. (More particularly since the era of the philanthropic publisher is long dead).
Yeah. Sadly all true including that last bit.
Much can be picked from the pressers:
1. While at conflict, the pressers were helmed by a civilian, with armed forces only present to provide updates. It shows that the defense is at work, not to worry. The absence of a minister in these pressers was also notable. As opposed to Shehbaz Sharif addressing his nation everyday, Our ministers took a step back, which IMO was really commendable. It also shows that the issue is so easily managed that none of the bigwigs are required to assuage the people.
2. The military pressers after the war: To the point, sharing as much as is authorised without any chest thumping or false bravado. No claims of casualties even if they happened, because we aren't one to glorify death, we're on the side that fights against it.
Now for the bad side: I'm a media student, so it's a personal loss to see journalism take such a huge hit. There used to reporters we used to idolise. You could ask a child on the street to name a good news anchor and he'd tell you five. Now news sources have changed and standards of reporting have taken a hit. It's easier to trust a blogger who furnishes his sources than trust the face on the TV. Even newspaper reading today requires hyperawareness. Palki Sharma did a great job, and has been doing for a while. It was funny to see mainstream media's news being debunked on telegram channels this time. Air Marshall AK Bharti himself took some videos from open source intelligence rather than media's footage. They know the lens has shifted, so the pressure to maintain the quality is off.
"You guys see 'objectives' in excel sheet terms -- buildings destroyed, deaths. We see objectives differently. Warfare is changing rapidly, new technologies are emerging almost every other month. Our objective is learning -- learning how our weapons systems work in an actual hot zone; learning what the adversary's weapon systems are capable of, and what the weaknesses are. All of this helps us fine tune our war preparedness; it tells us where we need to invest." -- This, on Signal from a serving officer, is the context and nuance I was looking for. I both understand and agree -- war is no video game, and for all that we want quantifiable "wins", that is not how it works.
And yes, I share your sense of loss (even as I take some hope in the fact that there are still people interested in the media -- the biggest problem would be indifference. More power to you.
Your last sentence would have been my comment for your article! It doesn’t look like there is any threshold at which we can say that the current electronic and digital media landscape could collapse. We are stuck in a vicious loop in which the utter nonsense spewed by the irresponsible media is feeding more demand for even more utter nonsense!
Collapse, no. Thrive, yes -- even more than it already is. And yes, your comment about the loop is totally on point.