Now, Media Endorses Adultery

Guy comes home after a hard day's work. Finds his wife in bed, probably nude under a blanket that covers her from neck to toe. Gets a curious look on his face. Suspects something’s going on. Starts looking around for the culprit. And there in the closet finds John Abraham. But the ever loving John has a good excuse for being in the closet. He was “searching for his bag” – Skybags! John gleefully explains the beauty of Skybags and those ‘caster wheels’. Says those are handy to ‘run’. And then demonstrates it by jumping out and running away, dragging his Skybag with him. Husband nods in admiration at his wife and says “it can really run”. Skybags saves the day and the wife escapes being caught at her adulterous affair by a dumb husband. Are you laughing? Well, you’re supposed to because the whole thing is intended to be humorous.

Skybags - Adultery is Okay!

That would have been okay for an Adults joke book. But what exactly is such an ad doing on news and other channels in the MSM? Weren’t these guys supposed to be the ‘moral watchdogs’? Be it porn or murders resulting out of affairs, our news channels don’t tire telling us how Indian values are being lost, how society is dumbing down by the day. They even get psychologists to analyse us. Ah well, I suppose given that much of our media is essentially a Page-3 club these affairs and adulterous conduct would be normal for them. Lately, very few days have passed when some channel or the other hasn’t discussed porngate and have had debates over whether porn should be legalised.

First, let’s get the Adultery part over with. Under Indian laws Adultery is punishable with a fine or five years in prison and can also be grounds for divorce. The woman is not considered guilty and is not punishable. In the Skybags ad, it implies the woman is clearly adulterous but we can’t be sure about John because we don’t know if the guy is married. But that is about the ad and I guess Skybags, which was launched around 1992-93, must be having a hard time with sales and needed a silly ad to get back into good business. But this is about our media. And greed is their creed! If it brings in the moolah, anything goes.

The editor of a news channel, as with print media, is responsible for all content that appears on it. Be it news, be it ads, campaigns and even the scrolls that run at the bottom of the screen. So if this ad appeared on TimesNow, NDTV, CNN-IBN then Arnab Goswami, Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai respectively would be responsible. True for other channels as well. So the very people who lecture the nation on morals do not think twice before carrying an adulterous ad. Is the ad illegal? No, in my assessment it is not. But surely, these editors seem to have missed the double standards they practice. Who knows, next time there might be an ad where a man rapes a woman and then escapes by using Skybags, since it’s quick on wheels, or some such product and our editors won’t mind carrying it. Looks like morals end where money starts. More importantly, these very channels who scream day in and out about women’s dignity and rights do not mind carrying an ad where one is portrayed as cavalier bimbo.

There is this Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). This is another toothless body, like the PCI, made up of media channels and advertisers and advertising agencies. Still, I am sure even the ASCI will not deny that the Skybags ad is in bad taste. So the next time our media sermonises on porn, just remember they are fine with and endorse affairs and adultery. In their Page 3 culture there’s nothing wrong with that.

Moral of the story? If you’re planning to have an affair or commit adultery, make sure you have a bag with wheels. It makes for a great ‘Getaway’ and our media supports your adventure. Have a good one ! Hahaha!

Ad Nauseam

Stop Illegal Advertising!

 In my post ‘TV Pop-Up Ads: Fraudulent Invasion of Privacy’ on January 4, this is what I wrote:

“...TV channels must be free to make money during their commercial breaks. No one would grudge that. However, they should not be allowed to make money on your time. That’s the time you are paying for. Viewers should start sending complaints to the Ministry of I&B to ban this fraudulent and invasive practice. I have doubts if Ambika Soni is ignorant of these malpractices. In the US the increasing of sound volume during commercial breaks by TV channels is banned. Scrolling commercial ads, pop-up ads or button-banner ads that invade you during programs you paid to watch should also be banned”

It appears the illegal practice is far worse than it appears. A watchful reader (Georges) wrote to me about the legal time limit specified for advertising on TV channels. According to reports the maximum time allowed for commercial advertisements is 12 minutes for one hour of programming. There can be hardly any channel that is not violating this norm gleefully. This is particularly alarming in case of news channels which are supposedly the watchdogs. Greed and absolute greed is the only driving force behind our media. TDSAT (Telecom Disputes and Settlement Appellate Tribunal) had sent a notice to the I&B Ministry in January 2011 seeking an explanation on this violation of Cable Television Rules.

The Tribunal's direction came over the plea of an NGO 'Utsarg', alleging violation by all leading broadcasting houses and channels by exceeding the limits of the commercial timing in their TV programmes.  (Business Standard). Much of the issues raised in my post on January 4 have also been covered in the petition by this NGO. And rightly so. It is time to protect the rights of the viewers.

The I&B ministry recently finalised new rules and guidelines that will become laws for the print media and are framing more laws for the digital media as well. Laws apart the ministry doesn’t really seem interested in enforcing any of these laws. Don’t be surprised if the next scam comes out from the very ministry that is supposed to regulate the media. Some ministries like Home, Finance, Telecom, Aviation are flamboyant by nature. The I&B ministry may not be that flamboyant but it certainly holds the same potential to generate as many scams as the others. Don’t wish for it!

TVS Wego - Mental Imbalance!

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is a toothless organisation governed by corporate advertisers and agencies themselves. Thus, bad advertisements will continue to spam your TV channels endlessly. The new TVS Wego campaign is one such exercise. Some young females dancing or doing aerobics on two wheelers without helmets is not exactly a great model for your kids. All this is supposed to indicate ‘body balance’ of the vehicle. Sure, body balance supported by ‘mental imbalance’! Of course, don’t forget our advertisers simply love criminals. Salman Khan was dropped by CocaCola after the court conviction for killing protected animals and for the drunken hit and run incident. He should be in jail but he is happily in your face everyday doing dangerous stunts for a Pepsi brand. Far from expecting any ethical practices from advertisers and TV channels the least we can expect the regulators to do is to enforce basic laws and rules. The 12 minute commercial ad limit per hour must be enforced. The entertainment channels can pass off these ads. Why should news channels support such advertising?

Whether its body balance or mental imbalance, it sure is Ad nauseam!

Ban On Opinion Polls Or More Press Freedom?

These are some statements that came out of the Second Regional Consultation on Electoral Reforms, organised by the Union Law and Justice Ministry in Kolkata on January 9.

From The Hindu: Chief Election Commissioner S. Y. Quraishi on Sunday favoured banning of opinion polls with the enforcement of the model code of conduct and said the constitutional body should also be empowered with the right to deregister fake political parties. Calling for stringent action to curb the growth of money power and ‘paid news’, Mr. Quraishi said the EC had, time and again, suggested that persons having criminal records be debarred from contesting any election. The CEC said it was also opposed to state funding of elections. “If it is done, political parties will get more money and there is possibility of misuse of money.” He suggested that period of punishment for disqualification of candidates be extended from three years to five years.

The idea of controlling bad practices with ‘bans’ is an idea that will seldom succeed. There is no doubt that our media peddles a lot of biased opinion polls but that is a small price to pay for freedom of speech. The culture of banning polls, books and other expressions or speech runs contrary to the very idea of democracy. The only way fake opinion polls will fade or stop is when people get wiser and show greater maturity. This is already happening to some extent and will continue to happen. One cannot keep fooling people all the time. Fact is, people have made opinion polls look outright silly on many occasions. So whether the opinion poll is run before or after the model code of conduct comes into force doesn’t really matter.

And how does one act against ‘paid news’? Obviously, this is not something that is paid for with a cheque and supported by a bill by the publisher. It is clearly a ‘black-money’ operation. Therefore, the same action required to target black money may perhaps be the answer.

Much as mediacrooks abound, the temptation to fiddle with freedom of speech and expression must be curbed. The two main councils that guide the news and advertising media are Press Council of India and the Advertising Standards Council of India. Neither of them have any punitive provisions for infringements and do not have any power other than recording or pointing out unfair or unethical practices.

The EC also suggests that punishment for disqualification of candidates be extended from 3 to 5 years. My knowledge is limited but I cannot recollect a single disqualified candidate being punished by any sentence. So it’s not at all clear what purpose such a change would serve.

It’s all very nice to talk about freedom of speech, free press, democracy and so on in this country. But is this really true? Let’s take a look at the Press Freedom Index 2010 put out by Reporters Without Borders. Out of over 200 countries surveyed India stands at 122! That should be some indication of the free speech enjoyed in the world’s largest democracy.

Some of the countries ranked ahead of India are Ghana, Mali, Costa Rica, Taiwan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Central African Republic, Kenya, Kuwait, Tonga, Sierra Leone, Nepal and some. The UK ranks 19, USA 20 and France 44. Some of the countries we lead in the rankings are Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, Eritrea and some. That tells a tale of its own!

The only way we can have a responsible media is to allow them complete freedom with proper regulations in place. Currently there is neither proper regulation nor complete freedom. And this is not just for the press and the media. This is for every citizen in this country. Let's have the courage to tolerate the Arundhatis and the Binayaks, no matter how much the provocation. You can muzzle speech, you cannot muzzle 'thought'!

TV Pop-Up Ads: Fraudulent Invasion of Privacy

Some years back during the severe earthquake in northern Pakistan and POK while reporting on destroyed houses and sorrowing families there was a scroll ad running at the bottom of the TV screen: 'Purvankara homes, the best homes in Bangalore'. Then again you might see reporting on a terror attack and then you might have a commercial break and suddenly up comes the Cadbury ad saying 'Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye'. Insensitive stupidity is one thing, but outright greed and invasion of your time are altogether different things.

And mindless greed has been the main principle of our mainstream media. If newspapers have turned their front pages into ad pages, the TV channels have gone many steps ahead. It is one thing to have commercial breaks during programs which, although annoying to the viewer, is a genuinely fair way of doing business, but altogether another matter when they force you to watch content. A commercial break warns you and you can switch channels or attend to something else. Mind you, lately the media crooks have also employed the tactic of turning up the volume during ad breaks so that no matter where ever you are in the house you can still hear the loud sounds. But that wasn’t enough. For more than a year now TV channels, particularly sports channels, have been airing commercial ads during the program itself. You could be watching a game of cricket, a documentary, a news discussion and suddenly you will be invaded by a PIP (Picture-In-Picture) ad, a pop-up ad or small banner type ads that suddenly flash across your screen.

These pop-up ads are a fraudulent invasion of your privacy. The programs you are watching are not free. You pay for them. With these pop-up ads and flash banner ads the TV channels are FORCING you to watch content that you should not have to watch. In a commercial break you are aware of what is on your screen  but these pop-ups force you to watch the ads because they are flashed in your face in the middle of the program. This is a fraudulent practice and both the ASCI and the Ministry of I&B must ban this practice to protect consumer interests. The least priority on the media’s list is the viewer.

Sometimes these pop-up ads can take up as much as 25-40% of your screen. The biggest violators of this kind of invasion are sports channels. 

Pic1: Pop Up Ad

Pic 1 above is not an actual TV grab but used as a sample to demonstrate how pop-up ads take space on your screen during a program. Viewers have experienced these monstrous ads appearing on their screens frequently, forcing them to watch the ads when they shouldn't have to. This is not what you are paying for.

Pic 2 : Ten Sports                                             Pic 3: Ten Sports

Pics 2 & 3 above are from Ten Sports' live telecast of the India-South Africa test currently under way. In the pic on the left the Haywards logos appear suddenly on either side of the wicket/batsman as the bowler delivers the ball. Is this legitimate advertising or invasion of your time and privacy? In the pic on the right the Tissot brand is flashed as the bowler is on the way back. Mind you, Haywards happens to be an alcohol brand parading as a soft beverage. These are matches being watched by all age groups, including children. Such perverted advertising has to stop immediately.

TV channels must be free to make money during their commercial breaks. No one would grudge that. However, they should not be allowed to make money on your time. That’s the time you are paying for. Viewers should start sending complaints to the Ministry of I&B to ban this fraudulent and invasive practice. I have doubts if Ambika Soni is ignorant of these malpractices. In the US the increasing of sound volume during commercial breaks by TV channels is banned. Scrolling commercial ads, pop-up ads or button-banner ads that invade you during programs you paid to watch should also be banned.

Also Read: TV's new space invaders: Popup ads