Degrading Ethics

I quite endorse the views of Suman(Times of India redefines blasphemy) with the degradation of quality in the print media. Most of us were brought up with the habit of reading ‘The Hindu’ but our son or nephew is more imbibed with the television these days. What ethics are they educating?

If the fictional characters in serials are abusive and violent, the politicians who get the hype in such media are no good. Their boorish and ill-mannered use of language is not driving the youth to the shore. With the debate on censorship getting hot over ‘‘adult’’ late night shows and obscenity, how do we censor the behavior of our politicians? If Sushma vowed to shave off her head, Uma Bharathi while on TV makes ‘‘firangi aurat’’ sound like a four-letter word.Yashwant Sinha, calls Manmohan Singh a ‘‘shikhandi’’ in front of the cameras. Are such things getting all the attention because of the increasing news channels?

The Prime Minister’s live, televised press conference, a few weeks ago, should go down as a model code of conduct for politicians when they speak either to the media or know they will be quoted by it. He answered each question, he was polite, dignified and never once committed an impropriety.

The so called family drama always depicts a rift between the brothers, sisters or the combo of Bahu and M.I.L. Words like ‘I hate you’; ‘I will kill you’ have become routine terms. What values are they inculcating if the focus is ever on the family feud than on the healthy side of relationships?

If a newspaper like Times is entering the path of destructive journalism, the television channels have already reached the end. Where, how and when will the repair start?