If you thought blogs were just about finding an outlet for your less-pluralist points of view, you are so jurassic. There is a new kind of blogging in the air. It incorporates a bit of yellow journalism and penny press with the old-fashioned peer-group talk board. Case in point: War For News.
It is a cut-throat, take-no-prisoners, uncensored insider story on the electronic media...specifically, the three English news channels, CNN-IBN, NDTV and Times Now. And with an ocassional rant about CNBC-TV18, Headlines Today and the vernacular channels. (There is obviously a class struggle, even in our quasi-leftist media!)
Going by the kind of insider information that gets posted in this blog, the three anonymous bloggers obviously work for the first two channels. On a good post you will find internal memos from Rajdeep Sardesai, inside scoops on which well-known business anchor can't stand the sight of another leading anchor who also happens to be the wife of the Managing Editor. The posts go down as far as 'incidents in the terrace' involving well-known faces.
But what is of obvious interest is the kind of dirty competition that goes on behind the glossy graphics and signature tunes that greet us every day on the telly. Strangely, War for News is visited by every member of the electronic news media fraternity, including the top ones. And I am talking posts by the likes of Rajdeep Sardesai and Arnab Goswami. Which anchor looks tired on screen, which Managing Editor will stop at nothing to get a story, which lead anchor sucks, who threatened to quit...nothing is taboo.
What we are seeing is the Stardust-ification of the blog. The debates are hardly about which channel is good or which program is making a difference. Personal reputations are torn apart, rumors surface and die. And it all happens in a very public forum much similar to ones that these scribes attach themselves to. Only this time, they are the lead story.
Albeit, the 'readership'/'viewership' of this blog is nothing compared to that of the MSM (mainstream media). But the eyeballs who matter are there. And it's only a matter of time before it's gets into public domain.
Which brings us to the bigger question. How long is it before we see a similar thing being replicated in another industry. Imagine a blog for the doctors in Mumbai, or a rant and rave address for the film-industry. Imagine you can write whatever you want. There's no fear of a defamation suit or a black list. It's a twin-edged sword. No misdeed will go unpunished/unpublished. And no reputation is unquestionable.
As an aside, the Indian government is planning to give accreditation to bloggers. The US Govt. already does.
Move over MSM. You are yesterday's news, before you can say 'breaking news'.
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