Strange isn’t it? We live in an age where the word news has become the most misleading of all words. News once meant the truth. You bought your morning paper or switched on your TV set, and you knew what you were getting was facts. Uncomfortable sometimes, yes, but truth nonetheless. Today? Well, today truth comes packaged, ribboned, and served with the flavour of whoever is paying the bill.
Which is why, as TV channels get bought over by political masters, the truth has quietly shifted. It has packed its little suitcase, left the TV studios, and sneaked into the laptops and mobile phones of millions. There, in small YouTube channels, in independent podcasts, in the determined voices of individuals who don’t have billionaire owners breathing down their necks—you suddenly hear honesty again.
And strangely, it feels refreshing.
Of course, some old-timers don’t always see it that way. “But I bought a 56-inch television!” they say. “How can I not watch news on it?” Like someone buying a grand dining table only to realize they just need a table for two. Truth is no longer being served on silver platters with dramatic music and ‘Breaking News!’ headlines. It’s spoken in low-key voices, sometimes grainy, sometimes stammering—but real.
And isn’t that what matters? Because when you hear a paid anchor yelling into the camera, don’t you sometimes wonder, “Why is he so angry at me?” No, he’s not angry at all. He’s just performing—reading the script handed down by his masters.
Please understand-the louder the noise, the less the truth. The calmer the tone, the greater the honesty.
But then comes the real question: where do you tune in? Do you continue to feed on the official lie, like being spoon-fed dessert after dessert, till you no longer know what vegetables taste like? Or do you use that little gift God gave you—reasoning—and finally choose what makes sense?
Because, my friends, news today is no longer about facts. It is about the kind of person you want to be. Do you want to live in a make-believe world—where everything looks rosy because someone’s painting the roses red on your behalf? Or do you prefer to step into reality, sometimes grey, sometimes harsh, but always truthful?
The choice is yours. The truth will out, as the old saying goes. It always does. But whether you’ll see it when it does—well, that depends on whether you’re still glued to that redundant channel with its thunderous voices, or you’ve had the courage to hear the voice of a lone man or woman daring to speak the truth.
So as you sit down with your remote in one hand and your conscience in the other, ask yourself: Am I switching on the lie, or tuning in to the truth?
Because there’s no ‘official’ truth anymore..!
————————————————–
Would love to hear from you in the COMMENTS section below…and IF YOU WANT TO RECEIVE BOB’S BANTER EVERYDAY, PLEASE SEND YOUR NAME AND WHATSAPP PHONE NO TO [email protected]
————————————————–
Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and writes a daily column, which has graced the pages of over 60 newspapers and magazines, from a daily column in the Khaleej Times, Dubai, the Morning Star, London, and in nearly every state in India, from The Statesman in Kolkata, to the Kashmir Times in Kashmir to the Trinity Mirror in Chennai.
How ironic that our national motto is _Satya meva jayete,_
*Problem:* we want entertainment and someone to hate… We don’t love truth, we fear and resent it because it reveals how pathetic we are
Very true, and aptly put. Thank you Alice.
This strategy as well applies to all articles published.
Not entirely. While bias may creep into some published articles, to say the same strategy applies to all of them is unfair. There are still journalists and writers who strive to present facts with integrity. The challenge is not to dismiss everything as manipulated, but to discern carefully between propaganda and genuine reporting.
Absolutely true
Yes indeed Robert, your words strike at the very heart of what has gone wrong with our times. Once upon a time, news was about facts, however bitter they might have been. Today, it has become a spectacle, designed to dazzle, to divide, and to distract rather than to inform. I particularly liked your line that “the louder the noise, the less the truth.” It is painfully true, newsrooms have turned into theatres, with anchors acting more like performers than journalists. The refreshing honesty you describe in small podcasts, YouTube voices, and independent channels is indeed where truth has found refuge. Ultimately, as you rightly say, the choice rests with us; whether to consume the lie dressed in glitter, or to have the courage to listen to truth spoken in a quiet, unvarnished tone.
Interesting debate.
On a humorous note, wouldn’t it be interesting if all these anchors cum actors take a lie-detector test while on air, doing their act? 😃
The “truth or dare to bare trp ratings.”
Those were the days where tuning into Doordarshan and listening to Pratima Puri, Geetanjali
Aiyar, Neethi Ravindran, Gerson D’Cunha and a host of a few more great dignified anchors who gave us the news the way it was, with no more personal biases or opinions, compared to the cacophony and the bombardment by the present day journos, newscaster…. and the horrible debates that follow over some political event, tragedy or whatever. It’s so fortunate that the remotes have a switch off button.
Bob, your thoughts so well expressed, confer with mine too.
Thank you Villiers!
Many news channels have become comedy shows and hate breeding grounds. They are no more news. No ethics.
Exactly William. What a sham!
This piece really resonates with the current state of news media. The comparison between loud, dramatic newsrooms and the calmer, more honest voices of independent creators – like Sujit Nair, Neelu Vyas, Dhruv Rathee, Ravish Kumar, NewsLaundry, Faye D’Souza – is especially striking. It’s so true that today, finding the real facts depends more on our willingness to think critically and step beyond surface-level spectacle. Thank you for reminding us that the search for truth is now personal,:and that while the official voices may get louder, genuine honesty often speaks in a quieter tone.