BREAKING NEWS: PM Modi’s beard looks slightly shorter today.
Has he had a haircut? Is it a metaphor for economic reforms? Did China notice? Tune in for a one-hour special report: “DAADHI POLITICS: Kya Modi ki shave desh ki direction badal degi?”
Welcome to the rollercoaster world of Indian breaking news, where fact and fiction have a shaky marriage, and the only rule is: If it bleeds, it leads.
What is Breaking News?
Once upon a time (somewhere between the invention of Instagram and Doordarshan’s golden days), “Breaking News” meant a real-time, unexpected event of massive public importance. War. Assassinations. Natural disasters. Pandemics. Something that made the nation pause.
Today? “BREAKING: In which way our PM eats a mango?” qualifies.
Breaking news has devolved into a never-ending TV serial with more drama than Ekta Kapoor's entire seasons of Nagin and many more. Every sneeze by a politician, every cryptic tweet by a movie star, every wardrobe malfunction is packaged with alarming music, a red banner, and five panelists yelling over each other as if the nation depends on their volume.
Definition of Breaking News in Indian Media Today?
Anything that can stir outrage, or get you to watch just five more seconds. ("Aap kahin mat jaaiye... ham laut ke aate hain!")
Positive Impacts
Despite its criticisms, breaking news does serve vital purposes. For instance:
During natural disasters like earthquakes or floods (e.g., the 2023 Sikkim flash floods), breaking news helps relay safety instructions, emergency contacts, and rescue operations almost instantly.
Breaking news can rally citizens to donate during calamities, protest against injustice, or engage in civic duties.
The Dark Side: Now Playing on Every News Channel
Let’s be honest: The “positive side” is the spinach on the plate. The real meal, the juicy, buttery, cholesterol-loaded disaster is what gets served 24/7. So here’s what breaking news often actually does:
1. Sensationalism Over Substance
You'd think India's biggest problem is who married whom, not poverty, unemployment, or air pollution. Important policy debates are overshadowed by absurd headlines like:
“Kya aliens ne kiya Bihar ka bijli cut?”
“Deepika ka lipstick shade: Nationalism ya sedition?”
2. Panic Over Public Service
COVID taught us many things, including how the media can fuel hysteria. Remember the daily “CORONA KA KAAL” graphics with skulls and flames? What we needed: clarity. What we got: calamity TV.
3. Celebrity Worship Syndrome
A tragic death becomes a month-long reality show. The Sushant Singh Rajput case was covered more than actual state elections. Drug busts, WhatsApp chats, airport arrivals all under “breaking news.”
Media and news channels give more of its time & energy to a mere news of jalebi & samosa by neglecting poor road conditions during monsoon, sexual assault against women, arbitrary in the name of religion, rising unemployment and of course our falling and failing education system.
The Gullible Public: Victims of the Drama
Let’s spare a thought for the aam aadmi who comes home after a long day, switches on the TV, and is immediately bombarded with:
One anchor shrieking about China’s evil plans,
Another decoding Kareena Kapoor’s Instagram post,
In this chaos, how does the public know what’s real?
They don't. And That’s the Point.
The average viewer is drowning in information, most of it is half-cooked, exaggerated, or just plain garbage. The difference between news and noise is gone. The line between reporter and joker? Erased. The public is left confused, misinformed, and yet addicted to the drama.
The question has shifted from “Is this true?” to “Who said it first and how loud?”
How Breaking News Became a Business (and equally similar to cancer)
Let’s not beat around the bush. Breaking news isn’t journalism anymore. It’s a product, carefully designed to gain TRPs & viewer addiction:
And much like tobacco, it’s both profitable and toxic.
Every channel wants to be “first,” not “accurate.” Verifying a story takes time; hyping it takes seconds. So, even if a rumor spreads like wildfire, the excuse is ready: “We’re just reporting what sources say.” (Who these mysterious “sources” are remains an eternal mystery, perhaps ghosts of ethics past.)
As a result, breaking news has become a cancer, spreading fast, mutating, and eroding the collective intelligence of the nation.
The Blurred Line: News vs Nonsense
We now live in a world where:
Real News is ignored because it’s “too boring.”
Fake News is loud because it’s “too spicy.”
Media houses proudly report gossip as fact, and facts as “allegations.”
The once-proud line between reporting and rumor is now a doodle in sand.
And don’t even get started on “WhatsApp University”—that unholy alliance between your uncle’s forwards and breaking news points. The Indian media doesn’t debunk these messages anymore. It validates them by putting them on screen.
Daily Examples of Breaking News lunacy:
- Cricket Fever: “Virat Kohli sneezes before toss—Is he sick or is it strategy?”
- Bollywood Bonanza: “Alia Bhatt wears pink again. Is she hinting at a girl child?”
- Political Soap Opera: “MP switches party—nation stunned” (Even though it’s the 4th switch this week.)
- Spiritual Circus: “Baba claims drinking cow urine cured his Wi-Fi connection.”
- Election Tamasha: “Exit Polls suggest BJP, Congress, and Aliens in three-way tie.”
Every hour, the absurdity bar rises, and we, helpless viewers, are fed this absurdity with a side of “This is important, dammit!” urgency.
Conclusion: The Nation Wants to Think
India is the world’s largest democracy with over a billion minds and opinions. Journalism should help those minds think and those opinions form.
Breaking news, in its current form, is not breaking events—it’s breaking attention spans, trust, and the very foundation of journalism.
We’re not asking for the moon. Just a little sanity and some truth. As citizens, we need to demand better:
Support independent, ethical journalism.
Learn to question headlines.
And for the love of all that’s holy, fact-check before forwarding!
To the Indian media: We love a little drama. But can we balance it with a bit of dignity? News doesn’t have to be boring to be important. And important doesn’t mean loud.
Until then, brace yourself for the next “BREAKING NEWS”: A dog barks at 3 AM in Kanpur—what does it mean for India’s foreign policy?