There was a bungee jumping tragedy in Bangalore the other day.
There were no safety nets laid out as a precautionary measure. Apparently there weren’t any ambulances or first aid kits around either.
The newspaper, I think it was the times of India, was screaming blue murder. It was headline news and justifiably the paper was reproachful and condemning in its report. To further elaborate on the gross inattention, there was an illustration of the series of events that led up to the catastrophe, and the times of India, in its final fit of passion and public outrage, possibly to underline its sense of indignation, beautifully rendered it in the form of a cartoon strip!
I have to say I’m still reeling from the sense of utter apathy on the part of one of India’s oldest newspapers.
But print journalism? Can we forgive it for being so callous and stupid? It has been around in this country for long enough to at least ostensibly report fairly hasn’t it? To have heard of a genre of diagrammatic representation called information design.
I don’t know about you but I would take offense if a caricaturist was taking artistic liberties in rendering the terrifying circumstances of my death.
true.
ReplyDeletewell put.
this country never fails to make me see red.
Irresponsibility lies as much in the hands of the perpetrator as the people who either encourage it or do noting to stop it. Same goes for Journalism. The Times of (India) can by no means be considered good journalism. But they are the highest selling newspaper in almost all the Metros.
ReplyDeleteMaybe its time we pointed fingers at ourselves- the readers who encourage sensationalization and bad humour instead of the people who are just merely catering to our demands. If their stories were not selling a million copies they might be forced to restructure/reconstruct their idea of journalism and comply with the norms set by more respectable newspapers like The Hindu and The Telegraph - instead, sadly it is the other way round.
So whose "fault" is it really?