Osama,all the time

All news channels,international and Indian,suspended disbelief and coverage of any other news to concentrate on Operation Geronimo. The sole exception was a helicopter,the one carrying Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu. But other helicopters made more news and rivetting television as they took flight over Pakistan. The fact that the American authorities have chosen to reveal the story in coffee spoons made the most wanted man’s demise the most watched event in recent history (according to first estimates,42.6 million tuned into it in India as against 42.1 million viewers of the royal wedding,says an eMap report). Certainly,it was the most tweeted event — so CNN told us — after,believe it or not,Japanese new year greetings.

It has been the visual equivalent of unputdownable — which is alas,not unwatchable,although it was sometimes that too,especially with the shrill attacks on Pakistan led by some Hindi news channels. As information trickled in,last Monday and Tuesday,there was way,way too much discussion and the same shots of the Abbottabad compound where Osama was discovered. Yet you stayed by the TV set,never knowing when further tidbits would feed our hunger for more information.

The “Obama dead” error was a momentary “all thumbs” lapse; worse was the constant flashing of a photograph identified as Osama’s bloodied and disfigured face. That it was no such thing did not prevent TV news showing it well after we all knew it to be false. Oh dear; we all makes mistakes,especially in the heat of television competition,but let’s not knowingly repeat it.

The lack of eyewitness accounts was another handicap for TV coverage — the Japan tsunami made for powerful television because of mobile phone pictures and first-person accounts of the tragedy. There was also the Pakistani authorities’ virtual silence — they fielded their high commissioner to the UK,mostly,and later their ambassador to the US — what could TV news do but debate Pakistan’s questionable role,recall Osama’s history,and tell us the (precious) little they knew about the Seals?

Thus,a boy who claimed he had been gifted rabbits by Osama’s household members became the only authoritative voice on the Abbottabad house inmates — and Tuesday’s TV pin-up. Is it any wonder then,that Hindi news channels like Star News,Aaj Tak and India TV did what they do so well? They reconstructed the assault. It was marvellous: helicopters landed,armed troops poured out,stole up staircases,blazing guns as they went along — and none of it for real. Can a Hollywood film be far behind?

Indian English language news channels supplemented their meagre information resources with direct feeds from foreign channels. Thus CNN was on CNN-IBN (where else?) and Al Jazeera was on Times Now. Al Jazeera is less jingoistic and brings us viewpoints we never hear on other news channels. The reporting on Osama’s possible successors,for example,was really instructive.

Last Tuesday,NDTV 24×7 had a “world” exclusive — Wikileaks Pakistan’s cables to the US on Osama,terrorism and related issues. So the skeletons are beginning to tumble out.

While the world was absorbed by the Osama saga,TLC was still starry-eyed over Kate and William’s wedding. On Tuesday night,four days after the happy event,it was still telecasting those awful contraptions balanced on ladies’ heads at the Westminister ceremony. What can one say, except hats off?

shailaja.bajpai@expressindia.com