Saturday, October 20, 2007

Media and Privacy in Andhra Pradesh

These days there is lot of debate going on with regard to respecting privacy of the celebrities. Though this issue may be new to Andhra Pradesh, it is one of the long standing debates across the world.

Today, barring few neutral media entities (may be dead long ago), most of them are thriving on celebrities and their news.

All the Internet only editions like GreatAndhra, That's Telugu or Andhra Cafe taking as an example, thrive on gossip to make business. Though they do not claim with the authority, in the end they summarise the story as "everybody on the streets are talking like this". Thus they absolve themselves. Fools like us believe that they are truth.

Who is not interested in Film Nagar gossip? Which heroine slept with whom, who is the pimp in the Tollywood, who is having illicit relationship with whom, who is using drugs, and who is advanced and who is less advanced and so on. If only a few are interested in such news all these media on the Internet would have closed long back. There are many who want these sucking news.

Even coming to main stream media - for example a news paper like Eenadu is getting too personal on YS Rajasekshar Reddy. This is a open secret. In this case, the issue is wealth and power. The objectivity and respect for a pioneering news paper like Eenadu lost dramatically in the past couple of years. Yet, this news paper thrives because, society is split and there are many on Eenadu side. But breach of privacy is not hifghlighted.

When NTR married second time in 90's, the front page news in Deccan Chronicle was all about entering into someones private life. All the issues NTR faced since then until his death was breaching into privacy.

When Chiranjeevi eldest daughter marriage engagement was cancelled, the news in the media was all amount to breaching privacy. There are many news and rumours floating since his other brother involved in court case - all these are not private?

At the same time, when Chiranjeevi eldest daughter got married the pictures and video were along with the news, who attended the marriage & gossip was in TV's, media and web. All these was private. Yet, no one raised any issue because it is good news as far many are concerned. Same is the case with Chandarbabu Naidu's son's marriage or Balakrishna's attempted murder episode and so on.

Today, many people hit out at TV9. Why to single out today? This same TV9 was considered as the best and viewers struck to their TV's when other incidents that would have gone into privacy category were shown repeatedly.

All these media including film industry are not running charities. Today, unfortunately,most of us think otherwise. Many people think all these celebrities like God. They see Lord Krishna in NTR or a macho in Chiranjeevi. They are huge gap between their real lives and reel lives.

As we have seen, when it came to him, Chiru decision is different. Did anyone see Gharana Mogudu movie? Unfortunately taking these movies as Bhagavad Geetha's or Ramanaya's many innocent girls have ruined their lives eloping against their parents wishes and today are suffering. Did Chiranjeevi enter into someone's private lives and ruined them? (Sorry, Chiru I like you a lot. But, I am upset today with your decisions - you should have called your daughter into your home after the marriage and settled the issue in doors - instead the decision to make personal attacks and criminalising that boy is not in good taste. You or your advisers are responsible for all these public state of affairs)

The bottom line is media cannot live without celebrities. Celebrities cannot live without media. Between these two powerful entities it is the rest who become emotional and charged occasionally like now.

In the end, it we who are making them to live like that. No need to regret!

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