Broken News
Author: Amrita Tripathi
Publisher: Tranquebar
Price: Rs. 250
If you are a news junkie, you have probably seen her on TV almost every day. Journalist Amrita Tripathi is a familiar face on CNN-IBN. Her debut novel Broken News is an essence of what it means to be a television news anchor in the competitive and often ruthless world of TV news. This book gives an insider’s take on television news from a TV veteran herself.
Amrita gives us an insight into this world through her protagonist, an anchor at the peak of her career. M, as she is addressed throughout the book, is a TV veteran who spent all her twenties building up her career. Now as M admits, “it’s time I reaped the benefits”.
The book is divided into the pre-breakdown and post-breakdown stages of the protagonist. All the elements that make up chick-lit are thrown in: the demanding boss, the two all-weather friends, the girl pal at work, clubbing, office politics (and romance too, of course), and the ultimate nervous breakdown.
Sure, it is a work of fiction, and according to the author, there are no shades of her real-life career in the novel. However, the reader gets a sense of how a real newsroom functions and the lightning speed at which things happen here . After my internship at CNN-IBN, I felt that many incidents in the book were like a replay of the usual scenes in the newsroom. Breaking news, the entire newsroom folk getting excited at a certain news item, the DJs (Desk Jockeys), the run-downs, reporters doing lives, glamorous anchors sashaying with take-away coffee, and of course, the constant floating population of young interns. The language is peppy and reminds me of the author and her way of speaking. I found the novel engaging and lapped it up on a Sunday afternoon!
The story sets itself into a cynical note in many parts especially in the post-breakdown stage that shows the bitter truths in this field. However, this is no excuse for aspiring journalists to step out of the race in chasing their dreams.
