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December 24, 2004
How Far Will This Go??
There was such a hue and cry about the Delhi's school boy MMS episode, the arrest of bazee.com's CEO and the Kareena's episode. Whilst the former relates to the cyberspace, the later relates to the print media.
As though all these are not enough, there is a new controversy brewing in the form of sting operations which is done in the name of investigative journalism. Investigative journalism is fine as long as it doesn't infringe into the private affairs of people. All journalists consider themselves demigods when it comes to writing.
They think that they can write any crap and get away with it in the name of "Freedom of Expression" provided in the constitution. Where is the accountability for the journos? This has been bothering me for quite some time and the sheer magnitude of these operations in the recent time has given me a sense of insecurity that this can happen to anybody. If sombody aims at tarnishing the image of a person, irrespective of his social standing,it can be done with ease!! There are always two trials going on, one in the Courts and another in the Media. Has Media Attained the status of Judiciary in the country? What is the locus standi for the Media to act as a Judge? These questions are asked almost daily, but we are yet to find the answers for all these!!
We don't even have to go into the Articles of the Constitution to understand two fundamental rights. The Preamble to the Constitution of India would itself throw more light on these.
"We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic and to
secure to all its Citizens:
Justice, Social, Economic and Political;
Liberty of Thought, Expression, Belief, Faith and Worship;
Equality of Status and of Opportunity;
and to Promote among them all Fraternity Assuring the Dignity of the Individual and the Unity and Integrity of the Nation"
There are two important principles set out in the Constitution, one is the liberty of thought and expression, and the other is the fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual. I think both freedom of expression and assuring the dignity of the individual go hand in hand. You have been given freedom to the extent it does not affect the dignity of an individual. You might say that you can file a defamation case in the Court, but what is the purpose, the damage is already done. Can you unscramble a broken egg? Let's take Kareena's episode. First of all, I am not one of Kareena's fans, if you think that's the reason I am writing this blog. Midday, the tabloid which carried the photos has apologised now for hurting the sentiments of the cine couple. Is that all? An apology and the daily goes uncaught??
Take Tehleka, it does all sorts of things, sting operation, spy cams and many more. Who has given the authority to Telhleka to do all this, to infringe in the private affairs of people. Are these people above law? Can they do anything they want? Why is a part of the Journo community indulging in such activities and why is'nt the rest of the jurno community raising its voice against these activities? Why aren't the law-makers bringing in laws to regulate activities of this kind? Is this all for cheap publicity?
I hope all these questions will be answered in the near future!!!
Posted by Vasanth at December 24, 2004 02:47 PM
Comments
You are absolutely right Ramesh. I think it's just the question of demand and supply. As long as there is a demand for all these, we will continue to see all
this.
Posted by Vasanth
Posted by: Anonymous at January 3, 2005 09:58 AM
Hey Vasanth..just my two cents...
How long will this media crap go on? As long as it takes for the public to wisen up. It is as simple as that. Sex, sleaze and dirt on famous movie stars sells
well, in India and elsewhere. So until the people wisen up to this crap and decide they do not want that, you can expect to see many more of such
"revealing" investigative stories.
You cannot expect restraint from the media, but what you can expect is for the so-called famous movie stars to conduct their private business, in private. If
you are in the public eye in a park or in the streets somewhere, you are fair game for media reporting.
As for the MMS sex story, well, if we were not so touchy and taboo about the topic of sex, we would have probably not seen the hype that this story got. But
hey, what do I know..I am just an NRI spouting out my thoughts.
Have a good one...
Ramesh
Posted by Ramesh
Posted by: Anonymous at January 3, 2005 04:48 AM