Reconstruction is the new TV format

The battle for catching eyeballs and viewership had long caused the Indian news channels to shift their focus from sensitisation to sensationalism. Off late, the shift is towards dramatisation. The latest was the Noida double murder case – the killing of a thirteen year girl allegedly by her own father who had “illicit” relationship with his colleague. The minor knew about her father’s extra-marital affair and so did the servant. Both discussed the issue and had presumably developed a relationship. The father did not like it and in a state of fit killed both his daughter and servant.
The case had enough in it to grab media attention. This time “reconstruction” was the word. A channel showed how the father might have entered his daughter’s room where she was sitting with the servant of the house. Another put it in the words of the “spirit” of the poor girl.
“Mai Arushi! Kuch din pehle main bhi......Mere apne papa ne mujhe mar diya (My own father killed me). As if Aarushi herself was speaking from Heaven or had confided in the news channel to tell them how she was feeling after being killed by her own father. And all these before it had been proved that it was really her father who killed her.
News channels are fast taking up the role of their Bollywood counterpart. The difference being that while the directors take two or three years to reproduce the events, news channels are doing it at “breaking” speed.