TV9 founder and journalist, Ravi Prakash, was arrested by the Hyderabad police and was sent to judicial remand.
The charges of looting or diversion of Rs 18 crore from the company may be or may not be true. He might be or might not be punished for this. But, what tells or what teaches us is the falling values in the fourth estate.
The value of news started falling since the advent of electronic media more particularly the TV9 channel, where news is money.
News, in the run for money, was twisted, toasted and turned to create sensation which brings good rating and good money.
Hundreds and thousands of journalists go unnoticed in the society, but those who appear on this small screen from 1990s, have become very popular in a short span of time, even popular than the film stars.
They made inroads into the corridors of power, business, bureaucracy and industry. The end result was the twisted and toasted news to favour some and to target some.
Favours have become order of the day – both to present or not to represent the news.
The media in the Telugu States had become a “pet dog” of a few and thus the fourth estate had become slave to the other estates, including the real estate.
They made news not as a source of information, but a source of revenue and thus the media is mortgaged for money, power and everything that could be rated as an evil practice.
People have lost confidence and faith in all the four pillars of democracy, which is not a good sign for a great future.