Gone are those days

Permitted Laughter
(An excerpt from R. K. Narayan's "Salt & Sawdust - Stories and Table-Talk")

I suppose one may now look back with relief on the passing of a phase of our existence when every journalist in the country was menaced or manacled unless he wrote what he plainly saw was nonsense or, worse, untruth. Day after day the editor, the publisher and the feature writer had to hold their breath and await directions from an individual who might be decent and intelligent in private life, but who had to function as a censor and could survive only by a show of extreme mindlessness and pugnacity.
A deadly monotony had seized our newspapers and the distinction between one newspaper and another was lost. All papers and journals sounded alike, as if they had been drilled to sing in a chorus. But the reader would not be taken in - he glanced down the column mechanically and distrusted every word in it. Even such a serious matter as shots being fired at a candidate during an election campaign left him unmoved and he just commented, 'Oh, it is just another piece of fiction put out for some purpose. Wait till tomorrow and you will know why.' The average citizen was convinced that day by day he was being fed on exaggeration, half-truths, quarter-truths and mini-truths, if not lies; and he steeled himself against their influence.
***

A ban on cartoons amounts to a ban on laughter.
R. K. Narayan describes the dismal days when his brother R. K. Laxman, had to run with his cartoons to get them cleared by the censor. And how innocous were the ones which were banned!
***

This table-talk must probably be a few decades old. During those days, reading newspapers was not just a habit, it was a daily ritual of the masses… it was an addiction! People used to look forward to read the morning paper on their breakfast table. The fact that R. K. Laxman’s cartoons were forcefully censored was not at all appreciated by the readers because, people used to look forward to his comics. His daily one panel cartoon used to speak thousand words about the then state of affairs. But, is this the same situation even today?

Readers have lost their interest in knowing, understanding and pondering over the news as, (as R. K. Narayan says), all the newspapers and journals sounded alike, as if they had been drilled to sing in a chorus. All the news stories seemed to be superficial, tampered by the censorship. The charm of journalism started diminishing and readers lost their interest.

Today, journalism (both print and broadcast) is converging with the ‘E’ factor (entertainment factor). Switch on your TV set and start surfing, you’ll find that most of the news channels today are busy covering irrelevant stories. I mean, how are we supposed to react to the so-called ‘hardcore journalism’ stories of frogs’ wedding ceremony or Raakhi ka Swayamvar?

These days, people are getting entertained and not informed with these fabricated news stories. Today, we all need a realistic and no-nonsense journalism.

Let’s not misunderstand the concept of hardcore journalism!