Mumbai | 13th January 2020: After the CAA came into existence, we’ve seen the youth take an active interest in politics and policy. Suddenly, they are taking a crash course on the constitution, government and the larger populace and standing up against the NRC-NPR-CAA combine. However, can many really say that they know the issue in the depth that it deserves and requires?
General news awareness which was already dipping, fell off the radar ever since the advent of social media. But the renewed rigor with which people, especially the youth are taking a keen interest in current developments is indeed heartening. However, how well do they know these issues? Most of the people vehemently for or against the CAA or NRC have not been there or done that. They’ve not seen nor heard about the horrors of Partition or the context and evolution of these laws. Forget Partition, most don’t even know anything about India’s darkest period, the 1975-77 Emergency.
Shakir Ebrahim, Founder of GoBisbo Broadcasting Network Pvt. Ltd. and Creator, Bisbo said “One of the reasons behind this superficial knowledge and lack of depth is how they’re receiving and consuming news. They want it short, crisp and to the point. They consume 1 minute news or news in 60-100 words, which does not give any idea about the whole issue and misses out on many important points.”
For instance, few know that the concept of ‘Make in India’ is just a variation of ‘Import Substitution’ an Indira Gandhi policy which had failed miserably. As the youth can’t connect the dots, history is bound to repeat itself, possibly with similarly disastrous results.
Yes, the youth are eager to know what’s happening in the country. Governments decisions, judgments and developments have them hooked. However, what they do end up knowing is only the chaos and drama which is covered by Television news channels, many of whom have given up balanced news coverage and openly lean towards one or the other side. Those with superficial knowledge are also more prone to be swayed by malicious WhatsApp forwards whose main purpose is to muddle the issue further.
They can certainly know more and dive in by reading the wealth of material that’s already available, but who’s got the bandwidth and the time to do so? What’s required is a platform that brings this information, this background in quick spans, to meet the needs of today’s audience. Bisbo is one such platform.
Shakir further adds, “Bisbo susses out the main background information, combines it with current events and presents the whole piece in an easily digestible format. 80% of Bisbo’s viewers across all their 9 languages are in the age group of 18-34 and their interaction with the platform shows how keenly they follow what is posted here.”
Bisbo’s video explaining the historical context of Article 370 and on the Naxal problem have already received more than 1.85 million & 835,000 views respectively because they’re providing much-needed depth and background. Their recent video on the less well-known issue of the Chakmas, has received rave reviews.
The enlightened minds of today need to know these depths before they make any decisions on an issue. These minds are the future leaders of a better tomorrow.
