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Saluting a nation in distress
Mannika Chopra

Disasters can bring out the best and worst in people and journalism. Scan the images that have been playing on your screens as the cataclysmic events tragically engulf Japan. The descriptive tones of the voiceovers simply cannot match the images of waves decimating villages, rolling houses like boats, with bobbing cars and individuals standing at vantage high points as their world just falls apart.

What we don’t see are bodies being dragged out of the devastation or the dead being given their final rites. In their silence, the media has given dignity to the thousands who have died. Amidst the mayhem, it is a comforting thought (What is displeasing, however, is being told how the Nikkei and Dow Jones indexes are taking a beating after the earthquake — a bit callous, considering the immediate tragedy).

The earthquake followed by Tsunami has endangered Japan’s nuclear arsenal Photo: AP

It is not as if the footage of the human toll was not there. This is the mobile technology world. It is the age of social networking, twitter and of Youtube. Everything can be recorded. You can see how the cameras document the havoc as towns are destroyed; you can see a nuclear power plant as it unravels. Pretty amazing, isn’t it, when you think of it dispassionately? But despite the wall-to-wall coverage, thankfully, some areas have remained off bounds for TV.

There is clear difference between the coverage of the 2004 Tsunami and now. Then when the Tsunami struck, remote sparsely populated areas were affected. This time round it is the heavily populated areas of a technology-saturated Japan. That is why we were able to see endless videos of the disaster long before TV crews were able to descend. The public, distraught as it is, has been feeding us live pictures, which are being filtered by TV news channels. The coverage may shock the sensibilities of many. Why would people want to document the disaster as it plays out? Seems a little voyeuristic, say the cynics. But in a way some sort of community service is being provided. It is a recording of history by the people, for the people.

On another note, you can also see how the media collectively has been almost respectful of the Japanese Government’s efforts as it deals with the aftermath of the 8.9 earthquake. CNN talks about "orderly and organised systems being put on to place;" the BBC outlines the "heroic" efforts of the administration and the Japanese Prime Minister Naota Kan. Unlike past natural disasters when the media has jumped down the throats of the authorities — remember how it critiqued the failure of the governments in the aftermath of the Pakistani floods, Hurricane Katrina and the Gujarat earthquake — now there is almost a note of admiration and respect for the nation’s fortitude.

NDTV’s Vishnu Som is reporting from the field in Sendai, while back home the network’s science editor, Pallav Bagla, in clunky tones, has been explaining to viewers the ABCs of melting rods and why India’s nuclear power plants are safe in case there is any seismic activity. In fact, the staving off of a meltdown in the earthquake-damaged nuclear plants in Japan and the possibility of it happening in India is today the main story of the Japanese Tsunami.

Weddings and dating shows are big news in reality shows. We know this because at any given point, there will be one or perhaps two such shows on A-list entertainment channels. Currently, the mega show is Shaadi 3 Crore Ki on Imagine, herein referred to as the Band, Baja and Baraat channel. This network is, after all, the one that gave us Rakhi Ka Swayamvar and later Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayega.

Let me say at the outset, the premise for the reality show is not only ridiculous, it is obscene. Ishu, a Sikh lad from West Patel Nagar in Delhi, is soon to marry Shinu, a gal from Haryana. The two families have been given Rs 3 crore, probably courtesy main sponsors, Lotus Herbal Sweets and Tata Indica, to spend the amount on the wedding. Lists for expenditure have been drawn up and it is up to the family to see that this money is spent. There is major dancing and drinking, glitter and shor sharaba in the show hosted by Asghar Ali and Mona Singh.