I currently have SunTV and KTV at home and they are pretty much background noises. They go on and on all through the day and most of the time I barely pay attention to what is on. Call it a childhood habit or a tradition or just plain curiosity, I make it a point to stop whatever I am doing and listen to the news.

Given the way show timings work in the US, the newscast is a really old one – approximately 12 hrs old news. But I still listen to it. Old news laced with a good dose of politics (afterall Tamil TV channels are more interested in growing their own political parties than actually try to present a free media) is not worth a watch but the sad part is I watch it. Regularly and religiously.

I watch the horrendously dressed, horribly made-up news readers and crib (like I did here). I complain about the quality of news and the duration of ad breaks, I go on and on about how what is presented as news is indeed not news but just a political move and I can go on. It is amazing how a well-established Tamil TV channel with 15+ years of experience can present such 3rd grade stuff.

Yesterday, I was watching the pretty old but the only happening news in the sports world – the Serena Williams outburst during US Open. I really felt that the news readers need a little more preparation.I do understand that there is a language barrier and that most of the names are unheard of and not so common in the Tamil vocabulary afterall I face the same problem. But pronouncing Kim Clijsters as Kim “Galister” by a prominent newscast reader of a famous (???) news station during their prime time news is totally unacceptable in my opinion.

I really know how difficult some names are for the Tamil trained tongue to twist around. But when I am forced to say a name that I am not comfortable with I make sure I seek help and then practise. Ofcourse it works both ways. How often do you and me complain about the way non-Indians butcher Indian names (the latest being Rahman’s name during the Oscar cermony)?

Seriously instead of concentrating on those weepy soaps Kalanidhi Maran should spare a few mintues to hire a good newscast team, a costume design team and some good voice and accent trainers should he be interested in his channel’s growth.