NDTV Conscience...

NDTV tries too hard to project itself as media with a conscience.

Yesterday was classic. In its "exclusive" crusade to save India's beaches, NDTV did an interview of Jairam Ramesh (minister, environment). Some sensational questions were asked - "what is the government really doing?". Since no controversial answers were there for the taking, at the end of it Srinivasan Jain proclaimed - "NDTV will continue its fight to save India's beaches and will continue to keep you updated from time to time".

By the way last year, the fad was "Save the Tiger". This year its the beaches. Suits the kind of audience that they are targeting - no matter how contrived it may sound.

Also of note are Prannoy Roy's promises that he makes to the victims of media harassment. Two promises are worthy of note -

1. Promise to the uncle of Aarushi Talwar that NDTV will not harass them with interviews at a time when the family is in the midst of a horrific tragedy (after that man openly appealed to all media during an interview in NDTV!)
2. Promise to Rani Mukherjee that NDTV will not indulge in spreading rumor and gossip about movie stars

Somewhere down the line, NDTV also stood first in line to cover all the rumors surrounding issues of national interest, such as the Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding.

At the other end of the conscience spectrum would be, Barkha Dutt's cheap "How do you guys feel?" questions in the middle of the night to the family members of the victims of the 26/11 terrorist attack.

May be there is a point of view where all this is consistent.