Media Menace!!!

Two little girls around 10 years of age came to me this afternoon. In fact one of them had brought the other girl who looked very frightened and worried. Her eyes were red and swollen indicating that she had been crying for long. She was full of emotions and could hardly speak. Her friend informed me that she had been crying all morning because she was convinced that the world would be coming to an end tonight at 10 PM. She had watched the news report on a popular TV channel last night! A few other children joined us and animatedly started describing what was going to happen tonight. One boy with all his wisdom declared that the earth would have big black holes which would suck all of us. Another imaginative child announced that the universe would be destroyed because the sun would land on the earth. There were lots of comments and counter comments passing back and forth. The influence of visuals, the media and the dramatic performance of the anchor of the TV program was so strong that it took me quite a while to convince her that there was no truth in what she saw or heard on the TV. When I probed a little she expressed that she was worried because her father returned from office at 10 in the night and what would happen if the hole in the earth sucked him? The poor girl was so worried that she hadn’t been able to concentrate in class. I suggested that she could reach home and call her father and ask him to reach home before 10 tonight . She had probably not thought about this possibility and her face broke into a smile showing her cute dimples. There was relief on her face and she went to class. After an hour or so she came back smiling and said ‘Thank you miss I am feeling so nice and I am not feeling scared any more’

I genuinely believed that the media –especially the Television has created a revolution in India. It has reached most of the villages and even illiterate people in the cities were aware of the happenings in the different parts of the country and the world. My maid would discuss the day’s important happenings with me as soon as she arrived at my house. She would emphatically give her opinion on every issue, would sympathize with the flood victims and whole heartedly criticize the authorities for handling the situation inefficiently. All this was the result of TV watching.Since I am not an avid T.V watcher, very often I would be ignorant about what she was talking about and hence had to just nod my head in agreement with a few stray general remarks. But I did get the latest news update from her. As such, I was very impressed with the power of the television and thought that it was playing an important role in influencing and empowering the masses. I was sure that it would play a very important role in India’s progress until I came across this girl today……
I had also watched the story of the ‘World’s biggest experiment’ the BIG BANG on India TV, CNN yesterday…so I was aware of the hype but had definitely not believed the anchor who I must say was highly dramatic both in words and actions and was trying his level best to convince his viewers. ..I can’t say if he himself was really convinced or he was a good actor. However he had succeeded in influencing the little impressionable minds.
I would have remained convinced about the positive impact of the television had I not encountered this little girl today. I wonder how many negative thoughts must have crossed her little head!!! I hope her father acceded to her request. It would surely have reduced her agony.