Fate of Indian media hangs in balance
The Indian media has been getting a particular bad rap post the Mumbai attacks. The media, especially the television journalists, have been accused of being insensitive to the victims and their families, sensationalizing information and giving away crucial operational details that helped the terrorists.
Lashkar-e-Toiba has issued a statement that it is very concerned about the attacks on the Indian media. In future, its media relations unit says, it will use the concept of embedded journalists popularized by the US during the Iraq war. “We are concerned about the scurrilous attacks on the Indian media to who we are thankful for providing such excellent and unstinting support. We were counting on excellent media coverage delivered to us directly in our rooms and we are pleased to say, that we were proven right. But, we are also concerned that our point of view has just not been heard and Indian journalists have only showcased the Indian government’s viewpoint. For our next foray, we will invite journalists to be a part of our team”, the Lashkar spokesperson announced today. The Times Now television channel is already in discussions with Fox News in the US to provide training to its journalists on being embedded.
In the meanwhile, Mumbaikars and Facebook-ers have been virtually taking to the streets in protesting the media’s role in the 60-plus-hours-long saga. Concerned senior citizens, high school drop-outs, stay-at-home mothers and bored corporate executives have all joined hands in a singular show of unity in decrying the media’s role in hypnotizing the nation for a whole week. They demand that they be compensated for the time lost to them. “We could not walk away from our televisions. How do you switch off Barkha Dutt? Oh, I hate her……I love her…..she is my dream woman. Playing rummy all day is so boring now”, lamented Krishna Godbole, a concerned senior citizen residing in the Aavishkar Co-operative Society.
Responding to the Lashkar statement and the massive public outcry, the Indian government has declared that it will place severe restrictions on the media from now on. Home Minister P.Chidambaram said that he has not ruled out devious elements in Pakistan being behind the mass hypnosis wrought by the media “These people are attacking our minds. How do you expect adults to walk away from television? The terrorists know it. They realized that Indians will be forced to sit there against their wills, boosting the TRP ratings. And, the media machine goes on”.
Concerned about the government being overburdened during these perilous times, the Hindi film industry, has stepped in and offered to screen its latest blockbusters in original, non-pirated versions, through all television channels during the next crisis. Stay tuned.
I am outraged by what the media did. By airing phone calls from terrorists, they allowed themselves to be used as propaganda machines to spread their vicious ideology. And NDTV aired statements of assholes like Gohar Khan that the Indian government killed Hemant Karkare. On the other hand, Al Jazeera never uses the word “terrorist” when describing the attackers. When they do, they put it in quotes.