Journal 1 - Inexperienced hosts spoil it all

Summary

There is a strange phenomenon on TV these days. It's the "let's-kill-what's-left-of-the-entertainment-industry-and-while-we're-at-it-let's-thrash-the-artistes-too" trend. It may sound a little harsh but consider this. An actress is invited to a "live" talk show to talk about something totally unrelated tp her craft, only to have it all blow up in her face for her blasphemous comment.

Then there is the cute song "Papa Jahat" by Fabulous Cats that has been accused of promoting porn! It's cheeky for sure, even a little naughty but porn? It's way out of the question. The single was supposedly inspired by Malaysian porn videos, but there's nothing remotely risque in the lyrics.

"It's just a song about a young, newly-married couple taking shots at each other because the husband had a colourful past. All I wanted to do was adapt hiphop music to our culture. Seeing that divorce is rampant these days, this is my take as a young person on the issue. I was asked if sex sells, and if that's why I wrote a song like "Papa Jahat".

The above incidents are just two of the recent occurences. Over the last year, producers of various talk shows, in their eagerness to score ratings, unleashed upon the unsuspecting audience a bunch of inexperienced hosts who don't seem to know there is such thing as code of ethics.

In the first instance, the host, who was deeply ill-equipped to handle a difficult and sensitive topic, and the moderator, who was more interested in playing the instigator, were just as guilty as the guest artiste in question. Of course, there's no excuse for the artiste's outburst but my guess is her careless retaliation came from being exhausted by the barrage of insensitive questions that came her way. On the other hand, in the second situation, non-issues have yet again been turned into issues.

There are still musicians out there who believe the industry can be saved and who try hard to produce different kinds of music in order to bring the industry back to its glory days. But if they continue to be pummelled to the ground by irresponsible people, then it won't be long before the industry is truly dead.

"Most of the hosts have no editorial experience. They seem to think they have the right to dig up on artistes. A talk show should be trained as a reporter and taught the basics of journalism before he/she is capable of handling a talk show," says a broadcast industry veteran who's appalled by today's talk shows and entertainment programmes.

A TV producer echoes this sentiment. "Some of these hosts have no respect for their guests. They even look gleeful when asking personal questions. Even Western talk show hosts show respect for their guests no matter how sensitive the topic is."

TV personalities seem to be getting "younger" by the day; untrained, unguided, and to a certain extent, unprofessional and they are seldom prepared for the unexpected. That's why when the guest on the talk show made the blasphemous remark on TV, the first reaction viewers saw from the host/moderator was that of glee, not shock.

Reflection

Our entertainment industry is declining day by day. Strangely, the hosts on tv shows are actually helping to make this happen by thrashing the artistes we have. For example in one case, a tv host of a show discussed something unrelated to one's artist craft and provoked her until she humiliated herself on tv for saying a blasphemous comment meaning a disrespectful speech about God or sacred things.

Now, probably we all think this artist is somewhat unprofessional about her job or went way out of line, and it's true, but we can't put all the blame on her alone. Talk shows like this aren't supposed to be aired. Sure, we enjoy some gossip or controversial issues once in a while, but to make it into a talk show? There's already "Melodi" for that.

TV producers of various talk shows nowadays are too eager to score ratings, so they present to the audience hosts that don't seem to have much knowledge on the industry, even the code of ethics. The host had a lack of experience on handling sensitive issues and the moderator, seem more interested to play the part of provoking. They were both just as guilty as the guest.

Another case is on non-issues being turned into issues. Hiphop songs are known to be a bit out-there,so we have to be open to 'new surprises' in what the hiphoppers will pen into their lyrics. But that doesn't mean they don't know the limits. "Papa Jahat" by the Fabulous Cats is said to be promoting porn. First of all, stop accusing and check the lyrics. Check with the lyricist himself and ask. There's no harm in doing that, is there?

Cat Farish said he just wanted to write about the society today. He is just voicing out his opinion about divorce as a young person watching from the sidelines. This situation has yet again been blown out of proportion. Our music industry is already struggling hard and these people are making it fall apart.

Both of the situations mentioned are not supposed to happen in a civilised country like Malaysia. It all seem so unnecessary. TV personalities need to work on their performance and should be perfectly capable of doing their jobs. The society must also keep their minds open in thinking new things and not narrow it on to only one direction. Try to think out of the box once in a while.