Neil Anderson: Telly power unleashed

Professional sports, the music video and Seinfeld are three forces that have changed television and the way it is viewed in the past few decades.

Neil Anderson, a Canada-based media expert passing through town, feels that with the coming of colour commentary, sport is no longer a game, but almost an art.

“It is no longer about the result, it is now about the process,” said Anderson, part of the line-up at Tel Cel, a three-day workshop “celebrating television”, organised by St Xavier’s College and the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI).

Cinematic elements have crept into sports broadcast, explained Anderson, taking a break between sessions at the three-day meet that ended on Saturday. Special effects, similar to those seen in The Matrix, were worked into the Superbowl coverage this year, he illustrated.

The music video may have succeeded in getting initially reluctant young eyeballs glued to TV sets, but their popularity is now waning, felt Anderson. On another note, he added, the popular sit-com Seinfeld changed the way the genre was made and watched.

Inaugurated on Thursday evening at the SRFTI campus, Bhaskar Ghose, former secretary, information and broadcasting, and Akhila Sivadas, executive director of the Delhi-based Center for Advocacy & Research, shared their views in a panel discussion on Indian television.

While Ghose spoke of the evolution of Indian television, Sivadas talked about the representation of the family in popular soaps.

The spotlight at both the institutes was on Anderson, who is a specialist in media education, a prolific author on the subject, and has also created a number of audio-visual tools.

“Is TV just another casual experience?” he asked the inaugural audience. “Then, its power is unconsidered.”

Considering this power was crucial to processing the media, as he reinforced through all his sessions. TV-bashing is not the answer to dealing with problems associated with the growing influence in our lives.

The key, he stressed, is understanding the messages transmitted through this engaging and entertaining form.

“Media education should start in the home, even before children start going to school,” Anderson suggested.

He used his own family as an example. His adolescent daughter would watch the once-popular show for teens Beverley Hills 90210, and his wife would watch it with her.

“She didn’t like the show,” he smiled. “But this gave them the chance to talk about the characters, the values and the behaviour depicted,” explained Anderson. Since those conversations happen with peer groups, “re-contextualisation” was crucial.

An educated and alert audience is the only factor that can eventually lead to a change in media content of the kind interest groups currently lobby for. Media will only live up to expectations, stressed Anderson. If the audience demands, it will be so.