"Sir, would you please say something"
I've heard it said in the US that focus on careers for kids about to head to college are driven by the prevailing theme of the prime-time dramas on TV - how the current slew of crime-dramas are driving people to consider careers as detectives, crime sleuths, and all such related careers that are the part of programs like NUMB3RS, Law & Order, Miami Vice, CSI and its spinoffs.
Apparently, in just fourteen years since the cable revolution in India, the country's thriving and not-so-thriving networks and their inane focus on "news" has spawned such a mini revolution in career focus for the country's young'uns. From traditional careers like doctors and engineers to the not-so-occasional lawyers, to the omni-present "software developers", the focus has now shifted to "TV News". Or atleast, wannabe TV journalists.
The BBC's South Asia bureau chief Paul Danahar writes an interesting critique of the new phenomenon, that threatens to over-run the TV news sector with substandard and often pathetic reporters who often show up because these are jobs with "No Experience Required". No wonder there are journalistic pieces like "Sir, would you please say something?", and "Who are you?" get thrown at no-less than a person like the Home Minister of India. Paul notes the interesting phenomenon of dumbing down of TV news, that is directly, and indirectly a result of the strangling bureaucratic mess thrown up the Indian government, under the pretext of security requirements. While Paul does suck up to NDTV, calling them thoughtful and serious journalists (apparently he didn't note/care for their coverage of the Vadodara incidents earlier this summer), one cannot fault with any other segment of his thoughtful piece, including his indulgent dig at the "old or ugly" journalists that the BBC hires :)
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