AmreekanDesi

Till a few years back, here’s how terrorists operated. They picked a target, decided whether they want to bomb or shoot, implement the plan and kill a bunch of people, and soon the world would get to know about it. There would be news for a few days and then people would move on.

With the advent of modern news channels, things have changed.

Now the terrorists’ job has become easier, thanks to 24 hour live coverage on TV. Now they need to begin their attack, and wait till media persons arrive. Then they start playing to the media.

Earlier their actions affected a few hundred, maybe a few thousand people, but now millions of people can watch in real time all the gruesome details, and the message is spread far and wide. As much as we appreciate information sharing, this is one arena where too much information is counter productive. Not only is the terror message delivered far and wide, and repeatedly, but they get assistance from television channels beaming live coverage of operations against them.

Its like the law enforcement agencies are fighting two enemies at the same time.

Case in point, the recent operations in Mumbai to weed out those rotten scoundrels responsible for bringing India to a standstill for the past few days. As NSG commandos were dropping onto the roof of the building, their images were being telecast live.

How in earth are they going to surprise any terrorists if they can see what is going on outside on CNN-IBN? How about deferring telecasting the footage by maybe half an hour?

…Shankar says anchors play a critical role in maintaining balance in the midst of live coverage. “Unfortunately, many channels have people of poor intellectual calibre and maturity as anchors. And this is across English and Hindi news channels,” he said. “We also need to find more dignified ways of approaching victims who’ve just emerged from a traumatic experience rather than thrusting mikes in their faces as if they have just come out of a matinee show.”[link]

You see survivors coming outside the hotels, and a dozen cameramen surround them.  A person coming out from a horrific ordeal in a state of trauma deserves some courtesy/water/space/respect, not twenty howling journos asking how he felt.

The TRP ratings for the television channels may rise to dramatic levels, but at what cost? How long are these channels going to misuse and abuse their freedom without any semblance of accountability and responsibility?

Media has an important role in society, and far from fulfilling its duties towards society our Indian media seems completely ignorant of its responsibilities and the notion of constructive, bipartisan journalism. They appear to be guided only by blatant sensationalism and plain old capitalism, and maybe it is time their powers are curtailed.

To revisit that famous quote from Spiderman movie

With great power comes great responsibility.

AD’s corollary:

Abusing power while ignoring responsibility is sufficient grounds for castration

Also Read:

Ruhi’s post about the media’s role in these attacks, and Shefaly’s take on the growing prominence of citizen journalism via tools such as twitter. Poonam raises some glaring questions rising out of this crisis. Amit writes a poignant post about the lives that get lost in such events.

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