TV reportage? Yass, no, maybe

Enough of gratuitous commentaries on yes men. Even as Cyclone Yaas has slowed down, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, it has also managed to expose human nature — the nature of TV reporting. On one Bengali news channel, the viewer sees a microphone thrust towards a woman swimming with the reporter, out of view, asking her whether she is swimming. In between her laborious strokes, she replies that she is, indeed, swimming, adding, ‘I will help as many people by swimming’ — presumably towards those who need help. The reporter moves to another swimmer, a man, who looks as if he is lying in knee-deep flood waters. He pretty much says the same thing as his ‘fellow rescuer’. But viewer suspicion is confirmed when the camera pans to the reporter himself, who is shown walking, wearing a blue hooded-raincoat, ‘live’ from the disaster zone.

On another news channel, in Odisha, a reporter asks a man why he has stepped out in the middle of a cyclone. The exchange in Hindi is hilarious — and sums up much of TV reportage. The man initially replies, ‘I have stepped out because you, too, have stepped out.’ When the reporter says it’s his duty to cover news, the man shoots back, ‘If we don’t step out, who will you show [on the news]?’ It’s best to take a non-commercial break at this point.