Today headline news on front page in TOI caught my attention. It said "Insensitive Cops Upload Gory Accident on FB" and the ironic part, there was a picture underneath it. If cops were being insensitive, what about the newspaper? The article went on to say how traumatic it was to the parents to see it on FB but they wont be traumatized to see the picture on the front page of their daily?
The issue of media insensitivity has always been a debatable issue. Daily we see gory pictures in the newspapers, be it a train accident, or a bomb blast, or a murder. Where is the necessity to insert photographs? Isnt that a bit disturbing? Here we are with a cup of coffee opening the newspaper and then rush to throw up. I guess they are helping us detoxify & cleanse our bodies.
It's the same with TV news channels. They keep replaying the events again and again. At the time of actual event taking place, at one month anniversary, at every annual anniversary. Imagine the plight of the victims, they are trying to come out the trauma and they switch on the TV there it is being replayed again. Guess they are trying to steel our nerves, so we wont be traumatized by another accident.
The worst thing I feel is the pictures of innocent people being beaten up, with a caption saying the spectators didn't lift a finger to help the victim. Aren't the camera person, the news reporter, the news staff under any obligation to lift that finger? Aren't they human? Are channel TRPs much more important than humanity? What I would give to have the golden days back when news was telecast once or twice a day, a world without 24hr news channels to sensationalize every stupid thing happening in the world.
Very true. The media in the name of reality journalism has become very insensitive and cutthroat. There should be some guidelines and dos and donts for media coverage, esp. visuals. Good point.
ReplyDeleteMummy
I don't know why TOI raised such a hue and cry about the video. I did not have any idea about its existence until prompted by the headline to go and watch it. There was absolutely no need to have published that photo in the front-page drawing the attention of the entire population to that video. Though we can sympathize with the girl and her family for the trauma that they are undergoing, we should learn from this incident how important it is to follow traffic rules, and the possible consequences of the violation. Anyone who sees this would hesitate to jump a signal.
ReplyDelete-- Padma
Thanks Padma. Actually there was response of some FB members blaming cops for not being present at the junction. Pathetic, if we feel the need for someone to enforce simple rule like stopping at red signal.
Delete--manjula