Okay, I used to think that the Times of India's obsession with Paris Hilton is ridiculous...but last week when Anna Nicole Smith (ANS) , an absolutely inconsequential starlet/former Playboy playmate died, scores of Indian media sources carried this piece of news..Tell me why does the average Indian, people like you and me, need to know about this..??
I was surprised to find a small piece on ANS's death in the Indian Express, had expected it in the Times of India but definitely not bang on top of the Indian Express website. Later, I found the same story on Indian Express's Screen, their entertainment portal which was still okay...my patience really ran out when I saw the story in nothing less than the Financial Express..
A quick Google search reveals the following other media organizations carried news bits on ANS's death and the controversy surrounding her baby's father:
DNA
The Times of India
NDTV
CNN_IBN
Nagaland Post (really!!! see, www.nagalandpost.com)
The Statesman
Hindustan Times Tabloid
Samachar.com
Indo-Asian News Service
Zee News
The Statesman, otherwise known as the snobbish Bengali mouthpiece, carried the story in its in"international section", along with other stories like:
‘Jinnah wasn’t a real hero’
Another flawed Iraq probe
Fonda, Sally take a decision
N-talks hit Chinese wall
Another flawed Iraq probe
Fonda, Sally take a decision
N-talks hit Chinese wall
Sure, they carried the story as a stub, but imagine placing the news item between stories about international wars, a possible coup in a neighboring nation, the nuclear debate etc...
It is really really HARD to get over our colonial mindsets, isn't it?
