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There
is wretchedness, crime, accidents, acts of
terror and the likes in all parts of the world.
Such unpleasant news items get brief coverage on
the seventh or eighth pages of newspapers around
the world. The first page and other prominent
portions of the newspaper are devoted to news of
larger importance that can affect the country or
the society in a larger way.
However, the Indian media seems to be very
different from the media of other countries.
While the Indian media has done very commendable
work by exposing corruption in the highest
places there is a flip side of the media too.
The Indian media believes in sensationalism. It
prints news of crimes, accidents, acts of terror
and the likes on the first page and other
prominent portions of the newspaper. These news
items are often accompanied with gory pictures
of twisted, mutilated and charred bodies.
Pictures which are so repulsive that they make
people gloomy the first thing in the morning and
which can leave scars on the impressionable
minds of children. This has gone on for decades
and no government has so much as lifted a finger
to discourage it.
A few months back there was a train accident in
which many people died. One man was trapped. His
lower body was crushed but he was alive. His
head was near the window. Swarms of TV
journalists gathered around trying to interview
the unfortunate man. The pictures were shown
across the nation.
Some days back a leading newspaper printed the
pictures of a child who had been crushed to
death by a speeding truck. The body lay twisted
and mutilated. I shuddered to think of the
impact it would have on people close to that
child and on other children. It so transpired I
happened to meet the editor of that newspaper
the very next day. I pointed it out to him that
thousands of people had perished in the
terrorist attack which brought down the twin
towers but the media had been so restrained in
reporting it that we never saw the picture of
even a single body. I asked him what was the
objective of printing the picture? After some
hesitation he said that it was intended to
create an impact on the authorities. Are such
pictures only seen by “authorities” are they not
seen by people at large and by small children?
When we accuse Bollywood of showing violence,
should we not ask the media to exercise
restraint? In other countries often sanitized
news is printed taking into account people’s
sensitivities. The Indian media is wild. They
print the most horrible news on the front page
often with horrid, grotesque, hideous pictures.
We accuse the media of other countries of
selling pictures of India’s wretchedness,
poverty and crime to make money. What is our own
media doing? Is it elevating India in the eyes
of the world? Does it have any consideration for
people’s sensitivities?
Munshi Premchand wrote a wonderful story titled
“Purdah”. Here the purdah is being torn to
shreds not by a foreign Pathan. It is our own
media which is making money by tearing down the
purdah and exposing the poverty and wretchedness
within. Can we only accuse foreigners for it? It
is high time our media acted with some
responsibility.
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