Why this title? Is that what you are saying? Well, today, that is, November 21, is the World Television Day. A day, I would indeed say, that is genuinely important in the Post Truth world today.Just look around us. Every (non)issue gets blown out of proportion. Never ever is there the complete truth,as much is available, as much as is possible then and there, that is, accessible/possible. Given the prevalence of and easy access to the social media, the public space is full of opinions. Hence the credibility of the television becomes an important issue.
Given the ubiquity of the social media, even the concept of a citizen journalist is passé. Right now, everyone with a multimedia mobile is an expert, in fact, a university each. Almost matching the quality of most all educational institutions (honorable exceptions, if any, to exclude themselves from this generalisation, of course) is the Whatsapp or Facebook University! Given such unfortunate contexts, a public audio-visual medium can/should perform the role of the public intellectual.
May be, the corporatised TV is dedicated to "entertainment, entertainment, entertainment"! May be, even the debates subtly follow this pattern. Yet indirectly they do create a civil society, albeit not full throttle. The national TV may lack the funding, but their production values and truth quotient are better and more reliable.
The television can be a great educational tool as the EMRC programmes prove. During the pandemic, too, for the disenfranchised, it was often the only solace as Balbharati used to be once upon a long lost time.Though mostly it is " sound and fury/signifying nothing ", this is hoping to say, on the world television day, that the television would continue yo be of/by/for the people.
Pratima@let television lead to wide vision
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