MidDay was started as a newspaper way back in mid 1979 by Ayaz Memon.It
was Mumbai?s most popular afternoon daily with the priority being news
coverage of Mumbai city.
But for the past couple of years it has well transcended its initial
basic purpose i.e.''News Coverage''. Today it has joined the league of
those gossip newspapers like Bombay Times, which have no other work
except interfering in people's life & gossiping about them.
The recent Kareena Kapoor & Shahid Kapoor issue making news around
speaks for the fact that the paper is nothing but a glamorizing tool. I
am not here to defend Kareena or anybody. I am here to discuss what a
newspaper is all about. Press as we all know has been given the
privilege of being The Fourth Estate & is considered the most
important of the four estates. We read newspapers to find out what is
happening around in the world. As sitting in one corner of the world we
cannot see what is happening in some other corner we refer to newspapers
for the latest & current news. But today's newspapers give us everything
except NEWS. The articles written are spiced up with more gossip & are
intended to create a stir. Half of the papers are filled up with those
bikini clad so called supermodels who seem to have scarcity of
clothes(MidDay Mates & all those obscene pictures of sports
personality). Do we read news for this sole purpose? If we are
interested in looking at those supermodels we better go to an internet
porn site where we are sure to find some better content. Such things are
suited there & certainly do not look good on a daily newspaper.
I am tired of the articles that this people use as news. How is a
Hollywood star having a silicon implant more important news than the
conditions of people in Iraq & other underdeveloped countries? Is the
issue Julia Roberts giving birth to a child more important than the
issues of undernourished children in our country? Everyday so many
children are born. Then why write only about Julia or some other
personality? This kind of newspapers are solely responsible for the
images that certain women have got like sex goddess, sex idol...etc.
Sex is the three letter word that you will find more in this newspapers
than any other print media. Many people read newspaper to find out
current events. Even they are shocked when they see such obscene content
on the front page. SELLING is the only thing that this newspaper editors
are concerned with. They know people are interested in gossip about
personalities hence print whatever gossip they get. I being a marketing
person know that selling is important, but then marketing does not teach
interfering in other people's lives. No one has the right to interfere
in private life of a person, maybe it's a big personality or a common
man walking on the road.
If Kareena is kissing her boyfriend that's her personal life. She can
kiss anyone she wants. Who are we to interfere in her private life? Her
family background & all is certainly not a front page news. From when
did Kareena become so important? How do you justify clicking her photos
& printing it in the front pages of your newspaper. The reason they give
is more stupid i.e. she did it in public place. Go to a Saturday night
party in Mumbai & you will get more such photos & even more glamorizing
than the current ones. Why target only film personalities? Aren't they
human beings? Don't they have a personal life of their own? Just to sell
your newspaper you write & print such useless stories. How does a film
star kissing her boyfriend become a front page news? There are many
other important news regarding the social issues that are completely
missing.
If you want to print such masala gossips change the category. Put it
under the category of a gossip magazine so that people who are
interested may read it. Why carry out all such things in the name of a
newspaper & fool the general public? Midday claims it is the fastest
growing company on the stock exchange. There is no doubt about it. If
they write more such articles one day they will beat the Sensex too,
because they know what people want to read & that is what they give
precisely. In this as much as Mid Day is guilty so are we. It is we the
general public that likes reading such issues & have given them the
freedom to print whatever they want. It will be useless abusing MidDay
here because to change the present scenario we need to change ourselves.
I have long since stopped referring this newspapers. I happened to know
about this through another newspaper that I trusted. Now I think even
this newspaper is joining that league. The heading of that newspaper was
'Kareena Sues Mid Day For 20 Crore'. I think watching Kekta's serials is
better than reading this papers. The paper is only good for its classifieds
section & the sports section where it gives coverage to local sports.
I think it is upto us to select what we want to read & what we should
ignore.
As MK Gandhiji has rightly said Be the change you need to see in
the world.
Well those are my own personal views. I am putting it here so that it
maybe useful to people in selecting the right paper. Some of you may
have different opinions. They are welcome in comments section.
