Allahabad: "TRPs are more important to a news channel today and Nobel Laureates or a Science Conclave doesn't get us TRPs," said a senior journalist with a National News TV channel to me this morning when I asked him why a C-grade starlet getting a crank call in Mumbai is more important in terms of coverage than 8 Nobel Laureates attending the first-of-its-kind Science Conclave in Asia at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (IIIT-A).

Even local media representatives and journalists who attended HRD Minister, Mr. Arjun Singh's Press Conference at IIIT Allahabad expressed their displeasure over the fact that such an event of National importance was not being given National coverage.

It's a really a very disturbing situation. Given the general economic recession and the bad times faced by most print and TV organizations, many Media Houses have drastically cut down on spending.

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This is due to the drying up of advertising revenues and the slowdown on funding from International partners and associates.

The first impact has been on newsgathering and expenses have been scaled down greatly.

Out-station trips for journalists have almost been banned and boosting TRPs is the sole goal of every news or General Entertainment TV channel, say insiders.

Hence you can see frivolous content downloaded free from You Tube being run time and again on a channel while issues of National importance and pride like 8 Nobel Laureates visiting India with their spouses just a fortnight after the dastardly terror attack in Mumbai is not given national coverage.

Speaking from a journalistic perspective, the Indian media should have used the opportunity to show the World that India is a very safe place to live, work, travel and even sightsee, travel advisories not-with-standing, but somewhere something is lacking.

(Flynn Remedios is the National Media Co-ordinator, IIIT-Allahabad for the Science Conclave and a Mumbai-based freelance journalist. The views expressed in this article are his own and are not the official views or statements of any organization or association or www.IndiaEduNews.net)