[finneyp]

Originally Posted by Mayavi

Another example is the Virginia Tech shooting in which 33 people were killed before shooter killed himself. No news channel ever showed the parents of the shooter. No news paper published their photo, not even their names. Yes, there are rules governing privacy but still media knows its limits. Compare it with Rediff report on Md. Haneef, the Indian doctor arrested in Aus in connection with London terror plot. Rediff published every personal detail about the doctor right from where he studied, his roll number and worse of all his Indian address. Now everyone knows where he lived and they would be the target of peoples ire. What if the doc was arrested by mistake and there is no proof of his involvement?

Spot on Mayavi!

I was about to highlight this case of Dr.Mohd Haneef.

He was detained just because he gave his SIM Card he used in UK to one of his friend, and there was a call made to the this SIM by one of the terror suspects.

And just see that how our hopeless Media has gone about raiding his home, his college, interviewing his Mother, Sister and showing them live on the TV. Shameless morons!

We don't know if Dr.Haneef is really involved in terror acts, but atleast the media should have waited for the investigation to get over before pouncing on his near & dear ones!

Good that Wimbledon is going on now, I can avoid the News channels atleast for sometime!.

[caliper]

It's true that anyone wanting to get real news is well advised to get the Hindu. (Don't be fooled by the title, it's not an RSS mouthpiece, rather a very long running newspaper.)

They have a newsmagazine called Frontline, and that's very good too. They have stories on actual newsworthy items.

They are the only newsmagazine to highlight the plight of poor Indians as opposed to yet another cover story on Bentley-driving teens (like Outlook).

They also actually feature stories about other countries on the earth on which we live, as opposed to just the Delhi and Bombay party circuit.

In fact they don't feature normally have a Bollywood page at all, and very few advertisements, and none for underwear. LOL. If you care about the so-called "stars" read one of the movie magazines.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Mayavi

TSK, how can you compare this picture with the rubbish that passes of as journalism in TOI? The picture of a vulture waiting to eat the child stirred the souls of many a people across the world and aid started pouring into somalia after it was published That is the reaction which the photographer and the publishing house expected and it happened. When he took the pic, the photographer was not in a state to help the child. IIRC, they were fleeing away from militia and had no time to waste. Even if he rescued the child, there was no one to take care of it afterwards and it would have died anyway. These are the dilemmas which the photographer had to face.
Now tell me, what dilemmas was the TOI photographer facing when he took the pic of a dying woman? The only reality is that people were not willing ot help her and instead watching he die. Now that is the reality that should have been highlighted. Probably it would have won him a pulitzer and we would be discussing how TOI is making a difference.
A starving child read to be eaten by vultures was an everyday reality in somalia. Is a 20 year old dying of stab wounds an everyday reality in India?

Yesterday, after reading this thread, I switched on TV and was watching CNN when they showed a report about a woman who was stabbed in a gas station and five people passed by without helping her or calling 911. One person even took a picture of the dying woman before someone called 911. The unfortunate woman died but the photograph was not shown on TV. CNN may not be the most ethical news channel, but they know when not to cross the line.

Another example is the Virginia Tech shooting in which 33 people were killed before shooter killed himself. No news channel ever showed the parents of the shooter. No news paper published their photo, not even their names. Yes, there are rules governing privacy but still media knows its limits. Compare it with Rediff report on Md. Haneef, the Indian doctor arrested in Aus in connection with London terror plot. Rediff published every personal detail about the doctor right from where he studied, his roll number and worse of all his Indian address. Now everyone knows where he lived and they would be the target of peoples ire. What if the doc was arrested by mistake and there is no proof of his involvement?

First, I am not comparing the photographs, the Pulitzer winning photo is miles ahead.
I was talking about Journalism and ethics, and my point was that most journalism is sensationalist.
As for that Pulitzer photo, the photographer "waited" for the Vulture to spread wings, but when that did not happen for some time he took the photo. This fact of his waiting for the Vulture to spread wings is documented by his own admission.
The child was about to die. I am sure you are aware in cases of infant starvation 2 minutes can make a difference between life and death.
And please please please do not talk about CNN. I would choose TOI over CNN any day. Fox News and CNN are two media companies who will sell stories, and will publish news which is in line with their political agenda.
The Rot in western media is as strong as in India, and I would definitely not like the news here to go the CNN way(Sadly they are going this way).

[BunnyPunia]

slightly OT : indian media got a new story yesterday. almost every channel ran "breakin news" title to the story for a lil child getting stuck somewhere (suraj, near jaipur). Every channel showed wat was going on, min by min detail, interviews of bystanders, graphic description n what not. this is similar to a previous incident in haryana. the lil boy that time became an overnight hero! Channels were askin viewers to vote/send in their wishes n what not. I m sure the same is gonna happen for suraj too! Doesnt the tv media have anything else to do?

[ajitkommini]

Originally Posted by BunnyPunia

slightly OT : indian media got a new story yesterday. almost every channel ran "breakin news" title to the story for a lil child getting stuck somewhere (suraj, near jaipur). Every channel showed wat was going on, min by min detail, interviews of bystanders, graphic description n what not. this is similar to a previous incident in haryana. the lil boy that time became an overnight hero! Channels were askin viewers to vote/send in their wishes n what not. I m sure the same is gonna happen for suraj too! Doesnt the tv media have anything else to do?

Been watching this thread develop and I think I really have to disagree here! On the one hand we're lamenting the fact that the media highlights trivial news because of it's celebrity quotient or whatever, now we criticize them for drawing attention to a legitimate story? If, because of the attention drawn to this case, the child is successfully rescued, is that not a good thing? Come on! I can only imagine what his fate would be if there was no attention drawn to his case.

[BunnyPunia]

ajit, u got me wrong there.
waht i meant was, whether the tv channels give the story 5mins per hour or 45mins per hour, the rescue work and efforts to get the child to safety will remain the same. what i wanted to convey was the channels pick up a story, and make it a big hype, overlooking other news/happenings in the country. The whole thing becomes too much, what ever channel u surf, u have the same story goin on. What will graphic discriptions/interviews of bystanders etc help in terms of rescue?
The channels shoud not overlook the whole damm country, other news/happenings around the country for one main story

[ajitkommini]

Well I do understand your irritation at seeing replays of the same news over and over again, at the same time, one should give them some credit for bringing attention to issues like this which would otherwise go unreported. We curse the media's appetite for sensationalism, but it often proves useful. I know of a case where a private hospital refused to admit an accident victim until relatives threatened them with media exposure. They were so scared of being exposed by a TV crew that they admitted the guy into casualty right away.

[benbsb29]

Ajit, the media flashes news, and makes us aware of what going on around us. What happens later? Do they follow up?

I remember the incident wherein some hooligans went and vandalised cars at the Star TV campus. What happened to that incident? Any follow ups?
All just for a minute of fame, and then all is forgotten. Media has a role to play in society, which shouldnt be trivialised by something as insignificant as Paris Hilton being released from jail.

[esteem_lover]

It is not what you report, it is how you report & what you decide to show on TV. A little more responsibility should be enough.

[ajitkommini]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Media has a role to play in society, which shouldnt be trivialised by something as insignificant as Paris Hilton being released from jail.

Yes absolutely! but thats not the same as a kid falling down a well now is it? I just disagreed with the choice of example in this case.

Ultimately publishing is a business like any other. If we see trivial news being reported all the time it's because this is what a majority of people want. It's analogous to the way we constantly protest about 'mileage' and 'average' being given undue importance etc. I guess it's one of the disadvantages of a free market economy.

[DCEite]

Indian media sucks. Bigtime.
Period.

[extreme_torque]

How about star news. All they had to show during the prime time was how prerna's ( from Kasauti zindagi ki) was "assaulted" by her husband! This is limits. They will all show how Amitabh bacchan's bunglow was filled water, and not the common man who's struggling all through. In a way these news channels are representative of our society, they only show what we like to see... I am sad!

One needs to see BBC to know what journalism and news reporting is all about.

[khaadu75]

I luv teh way guys are going on about how TOI is the bikini times and that it has half naked women on the front page and stuff .... I seriously wonder which city edition has that kind of front page , I surely don't mind subscrivbing for it . So what if someone wants to flaunt and is comfortable doing it .... and I can gurantee that most of teh guys who say it sucks are the ones who probably read that edition teh most and not once but maybe 3 times daily . Use your common sense guys .... If that paper wasn't selling , wud TOI be printing it ???? I wonder why Debonair hasn't become a big hit in this country .. it has pics of women in less clothes than the women on Page 3 .

This thread wasn't about sex ..though as usual in this country every and anything can change into sex before one can even blink their eyes . The thread was started keeping in mind teh horrendous incident that happened in public ... Bunny, why blame the Media only .. what about all the asses that were present there ?? Doesn't it reflect that our country has lost out on the smaller things .... the poor guy who clicked it -- maybe he hadn't gotten any work for months and was headed to go jump of a building coz he was drowned in debt -- and as luck wud have it , he witnesses this , and his own survival came to the fore !! I agree its not a good thing but as Amitoj pointed out ... maybe next time ppl might help in a situation like this and not just be bystanders . We Indians have started thinking outwards ... me - my family - my home - my colony - my district - my state - my region and then my country , HUMANITY doesn't exist at all .

As for the Media only selling stuff that is linked to sex ... given they go beyond their boundaries pretty often but then at the end of teh day they also wanna earn money just the way most of us here want to . So they show what the public wants to see ... !!! What about the episodes where the media has helped in getting people justice specially in high profile cases -- as usual we Indians show how short a memory we have and we forget that !! What about the media showing how companies , people adulterate food items, vegetables , medicines with highly dangerous chemicals -- do we even bother going out there and convincing afrmers that they shouldn't be doing it -- and that if they don't you wud be willing to pay a few extra bucks for teh produce ???

How many of you have gone out of your own home and thought of starting a drive to clean up your neghborhood .... NONE -- coz as long as your house is clean it doesn't matter how dirty teh neighboprhood is coz thats the duty of the Govt . We like to blame others -- coz its much more convenient , as long as all is well in our own homes !!!

So STOP BASHING the media like some broken records ..... they do it for a reason , if we can be insensitive to stuff so then why can't they be !!! If you say its their duty ... well then our first duty is to be human which TRUST ME -- half of us arn't !!!

and pls Im waiting to know which edition of TOI has naked women on the cover page -- What a way to start ones day -- exercise to the eyes !!!

I LUV TOI ...........

Cheers

PS -- Its not only Times group thats lost out to money but most of the Human race too has lost out to money .

[mclaren1885]

Wah wah. Pehle Ishaan and now mountain boy. You guys from up north really seem to be on a frenzy. Keep it up. Loved the speech.

[ajayclicks]

The media too is under a lot of pressure. 24 hrs news channels, internet portals etc etc. I dont like AAJ TAK like I used to. But then someone votes it as news channel no 1 year after year.

Maybe the idea of publishing that girls pictures was to shock the citizens into action. Yes, there are 5 mins news flashes about some poor kid falling into a borewell. I have seen so many of those from across the country. So have many others. Maybe some citizen group will file a PIL. Maybe the court will do so (as they have in the past- taking cognizance of a news article the court yadayadayada).

Look at the Jessica Lal case and the Matoo case and the Katara case. Shouldn't the media be given some credit for that?

This is a free market. You dont like TOI move to some other paper. Dont like News channel X, move to Y. Many moons ago when I was working in the Market Research industry, I did a small piece of research for a news paper which wanted to knock of a particular section from its paper. Close to 80% readers who were surveyed said that while they didn't read that specific section, the paper should retain it, coz someone else might be reading the same, and it (the concerned section) might be useful to that someone else.

Cheers
Ajay