TELEVISTA
DD’s Olympian blunders
Amita Malik

One always regrets DD getting the right of way in coverage of any international event by virtue of being an official government organisation. This is one reason why its coverage always has the main drawbacks of babudom — ignorance, inefficiency and insensitivity. It is no different with its coverage of the Olympics. Only two out of several gaffes will suffice. When a comparatively unknown Chinese girl was demolishing Venus Williams, who she went on to beat, DD switched it off at a crucial moment to land us in the middle of a volleyball match between Croatia and some other country.

Doordarshan’s bland and shoddy coverage of the Beijing Olympics deprived the audience of several spectacular moments of the grand even. — Photo by Reuters

Then to illustrate its total lack of coordination, two commentators sitting side by side in a booth pronounced Safeena’s name differently. One called her Safeena, which is correct; the other persistently called her Sa-Fie-na, which is wrong. They did not seem to be listening to each other, which is usually the case with DD’s commentators. Unfortunately, the viewers have no choice except to cut off the sound, which is the best solution, and see and analyse things for themselves.

I have tried to guess why Doordarshan has this infuriating habit of cutting of events at crucial moments. My guess is that the channel goes by the clock and not by the state of an event. Speaking hypothetically, I imagine DD lays down a schedule, like all sarkari organisations, and it goes something like this: 1 pm to1.15 pm tennis; 1.15 pm to 1.30 pm wrestling; 1.30 pm to 2 pm swimming. Even if DD does not literally plan events this way, it certainly succeeds in cutting off every event at a crucial point and leaving the viewer fuming.

While on the subject, DD’s commentators seem totally unaware of the use of a microphone. They shout into it, no matter what, and drown even the voice of the umpire calling out the score. I have suggested this before and would like to suggest it again. They should hire the services of Vijay Amrithraj to put DD’s commentators through a crash course so that they acquire some semblance of professionalism, which they sadly lack now.

This is where DD, being a sarkari organisation, stands out. As everyone knows, sarkari employees can never be sacked. Many of them would not last even a week in a private commercial organisation, where there is stiff competition and where you are sacked the minute you stop doing your job properly. When DD had the monopoly, it continued with its unprofessional ways unchallenged. That is no longer the case with so many fine channels in the ring. So it had better watch out because people can always switch the channel off.

At this time of the year, weather reports are important for people who have to go out to work or travel long distances. Our weather girls are mostly more interested in what they are wearing than speaking clearly, and some of them seem completely oblivious of something known as a full stop. They go full steam ahead without taking a breath and their main interest is in switching off with a pretty smile, which is no consolation for the viewer.

Talking of what our reporters and anchors wear, they seem to think that their main concerns are (a) to look sexy; and (b) to dress as if they are going to a cocktail party. So we have the spectacle of a shy player like Ishant Sharma being interviewed by a nymphet in suggestive clothes. I am never tired of mentioning the woman I consider among the best sports commentators in the world, and that is Donna from Trinidad. She dresses elegantly but sensibly in clothes which fit in with a sporting ambience—usually jeans and a shirt. Her clothes do not distract because they are not meant to. So we pay most attention to what she is saying. Indian women commentators, please note. There is a difference between a sports event and a cocktail party — at least when it comes to dress.