Breaking news!

It makes headlines every other day. Its background murmur in the office and on the streets even if you are least interested. Advertisers and sponsors splurge on it all their cash. It hogs air-time on television and radio. Politicians and actors often have an opinion on it. For Indians in general  it’s touted to be a religion. It¿s all about cricket.

 

We’ve just been through an India versus Pakistan series. The media hype was at its peak. Team India won the ODI series, so advertisers and sponsors have had no qualms in getting cricketers to sell chadis, banyans, soft drinks or shaving cream. However, lets stop for a second and analyse the content and packaging of this product that is getting consumed in abundance and fast. How intelligent has the media coverage been during the India Pakistan series?

 

The basic reporting of the series has been spot-on. Constant updates, live updates on the score, squad changes and quotes have flooded headlines and sports pages. Combined with the reporting have been some unnecessary articles (packaged as news) that apparently are of public interest; cricketers that left one city, cricketers that arrived in the other, cricket strengthens the bond between India and Pakistan (much like music), and how the normality of the India-Pakistan series has made it boring.

 

A Google search of "India Pakistan cricket"under NEWS in the last one month throws up 98 pages of headlines, an average of 10 articles per page. Almost a thousand articles in one month to cover five one-day matches and two test matches, making it15 days of cricket and 980 stories.

 

Ganguly scored his maiden test ton at Eden Gardens and that was mentioned in at least 80 articles. What stopped the English media from making it a century? But full marks to creativity. Packaging the same piece of news in so many different ways - Sourav gets one last chance to redeem himself on home turf, Prince lays claim to throne, Sourav: A burden off my shoulder, Ton-up Ganguly, Evergreen Eden holds pleasant memories, For Ganguly this test at Eden will be something special, Ganguly departs after a dazzling ton on home ground, Ganguly gorges on Indian feast, Ganguly’s ton propels India further, Ganguly piles on Pakistan agony, It’s a dream come true for Sourav, Ganguly scores maiden ton at Eden as India pile on misery, Ganguly rubs salt in the wounds, Prince of Kolkata crowned King of Eden, Ganguly relieved after scoring maiden ton at Eden, and most importantly, Ganguly meets wife after scoring ton. Yet, we consumed most of it, every single article reiterating that Ganguly scored a century.

 

What’s interesting to note is there aren’t new sponsors or companies that are coming up overnight, which means that sponsors are stretched across the board. With 80 Sourav Ganguly articles to sponsor, which company is going to sponsor India versus Azerbaijan in women’s hockey?

 

The media has also learnt the art of ‘digging deep’ for stories. Bishan Singh Bedi gets interviewed and he mentions Harbhajan Singh is a chucker – headlines! A cop snatched the Indian flag from a fan and apparently threw it – headlines, Cop insults Tricolour at Kolkata cricket match. He was also reportedly taken off duty. Remember ex-captain Azharuddin? He has been on the radar too. The officials didn’t let him loiter around during the matches in fear of match-fixing; Azhar told the media that being a captain wasn’t easy and he also mentioned that Pakistan lack the experience. He was once the object of scrutiny and now a source for a couple of odd headlines.

 

When all fails, journalists turn into the sources themselves. Your standing around, mingling with journalists who have come down to cover the series, baat baat mei one says that the arrangement has not been great – headlines, Pakistan journalists not satisfied by tour arrangements. Did we just forget the difference between news and opinions? I’d love to hear someone’s account of the match and his opinion on tour arrangements, in his personal column. It isn’t NEWS.

 

In the midst of all the mayhem, The Economic Times came up with an interesting piece that was apt for their coverage and well written, Kumble spins magic for brand value. It was an informative and researched piece on advertisers wooing the leg-spinner after he was appointed skipper. The piece revealed that Kumble commands a brand valuation of between Rs 70 lakh and Rs 1 crore. Also, informing us of his new signings to endorse Manipal Education and his previous association with Samsung, IOC and Indigo Nation.

 

With that said, let’s not forget Shah Rukh Khan. And yes, we are still taking cricket and we are still talking NEWS. First a cameraman and Kaif had a tiff while the cricketer had gone to watch Shah Rukh’s new film Om Shanti Om. That made news. Then the big hot topic turned into Shah Rukh using cricket to promote his movie. Why? Well he went to watch the match and the media splashed his attendance everywhere. Shah Rukh and Dhoni exchanged autographs, yup, that’s NEWS alright! And then we spent more than 40 NEWS articles on it – Shah Rukh is using cricket, BCCI upset with Shah Rukh, Shah Rukh said he wouldn’t go watch cricket, Kapil Dev said there is nothing wrong with the actor watching cricket, Shah Rukh hits out at the Indian Board, Shah Rukh miffed at remarks by the BCCI, No harm in SRK watching cricket, Shoaib Malik was disappointed with the situation, and then the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association asked the Board of Control for Cricket not to invite Shah Rukh Khan for the third ODI. Yes, the boards did get childish, as always, about the situation. But need we cover it with such intensity?

 

Yes, India-Pakistan sells. But what ever happened to journalism? Did that get sold as well?

 

[Jaya Uttamchandani is a Radio Jockey for WorldSpace (Channel 520 - PLAY!). She has also worked as a web-editor for ESPN STAR Sports. jayau@hotmail.com]