In this age and time of 24x7 news, smart phones, plasma television, fast food and speeding connectivity, life can become a bit too surreal. We need to be cautious about this whole new media generated hype surrounding our lives. For young people in particular, they need to be careful not to blindly ape the lifestyle of the rich and famous people that we see on our TV screens or read in the tabloid section of newspapers. The responsibility of the media therefore becomes even more vital if we are to instill the right kind of values into our society in particular among the young people. It should be mentioned here that the newspapers in Nagaland is only a small part of the bigger media—television, music, film/video, internet and now your smart phones where you have more privacy to access the World Wide Web. So the real problem with our times is the unhindered flow of information, images or the attractively packaged messages that flow into our homes, work places and one’s personal space (through your smart phones). Among the available media, our newspapers in Nagaland could be a little better in the sense that we are in a place and position to filter or regulate content. However when it comes to other media such as the internet or television, things are more or less unregulated and therefore the scope for dissemination of information (both good and bad) is far greater than one could possibly imagine.
A word of caution, here for many of us, who have become fascinated with reality television programs. And even if you don’t watch, its becoming increasingly hard to avoid the same as they are everywhere including in our newspapers were the drama taking place is reproduced as worthy gossip materials. Reality TV has also produced stars who we admire either as role models or sex symbols. And what kind of influence do these stars have on us? Well many of us want to look like them and dress like them. This is somewhat acceptable. But when our young people behave and live like them, then the danger lies there. Take for instance the values that these stars try to propagate. Reality TV star Kim Kardashian filed for divorce just 72 days after marrying basketball player Kris Humphries in a lavish wedding that was billed as a “fairytale”. Then closer home in India Rakhi Sawant and Elesh Parujanwala got engaged in 2 August 2009 on a reality show 'Rakhi Ka Swayamwar'. The much hyped affair lasted only a few months. Perhaps the shortest marriage in history was between Britney Spears and Jason Alexander. Guess how long it lasted? 55 hours! And many of our young girls want to be the next Britney Spears!
The question therefore is who will control the media say in Nagaland? As already mentioned newspapers here are at least more consious and they tend to be more responsible when it comes to publishing contents in their daily editions. That leaves us with the other (multi)-medias where it becomes very difficult to regulate content more so because of the daily infusion of latest technology and human knowhow. Given this limitation to harness and tame our modern media systems, we are left with little option. The best way forward for our society to confront the challenges of an unregulated, irresponsible, depraved media culture driven by consumerism and profit making is to educate the impressionable minds about the values that we should hold dearly to, so that young people can make the right choices in life based on our reality and not by fantasizing.
A word of caution, here for many of us, who have become fascinated with reality television programs. And even if you don’t watch, its becoming increasingly hard to avoid the same as they are everywhere including in our newspapers were the drama taking place is reproduced as worthy gossip materials. Reality TV has also produced stars who we admire either as role models or sex symbols. And what kind of influence do these stars have on us? Well many of us want to look like them and dress like them. This is somewhat acceptable. But when our young people behave and live like them, then the danger lies there. Take for instance the values that these stars try to propagate. Reality TV star Kim Kardashian filed for divorce just 72 days after marrying basketball player Kris Humphries in a lavish wedding that was billed as a “fairytale”. Then closer home in India Rakhi Sawant and Elesh Parujanwala got engaged in 2 August 2009 on a reality show 'Rakhi Ka Swayamwar'. The much hyped affair lasted only a few months. Perhaps the shortest marriage in history was between Britney Spears and Jason Alexander. Guess how long it lasted? 55 hours! And many of our young girls want to be the next Britney Spears!
The question therefore is who will control the media say in Nagaland? As already mentioned newspapers here are at least more consious and they tend to be more responsible when it comes to publishing contents in their daily editions. That leaves us with the other (multi)-medias where it becomes very difficult to regulate content more so because of the daily infusion of latest technology and human knowhow. Given this limitation to harness and tame our modern media systems, we are left with little option. The best way forward for our society to confront the challenges of an unregulated, irresponsible, depraved media culture driven by consumerism and profit making is to educate the impressionable minds about the values that we should hold dearly to, so that young people can make the right choices in life based on our reality and not by fantasizing.
