Get well soon, Media…

Our Indian democracy remains upright on major four pillars. They are namely, the legislature, the judiciary, the executive and the fourth pillar is the free press or media. It is said that the fourth pillar is strongest of all. It has that potential to question other three pillars if their working goes off the track. Media plays a crucial role in shaping a healthy democracy. It is the backbone of a democracy. It is the voice of people which shows they are not really in a dis-empowered state.

Can India handle “MISOGYNY”?

It is like the most difficult thing...When I used to walk out of that ring, it used to be actually like a raped woman walking out.
-Salman Khan

NCW comes down hard on Salman Khan, asks him to apologise within 7 days for ‘rape’ remark
-The Indian express

Firstly, NCW (National Commission for Women) is coming off as a 'women's' court and makes it seem like of all the nasty things said and done to women in this country, this one is the worst. The vibe this issue is giving is that of the fact that suddenly we have encountered a star misogynist and it’s unbearable because 'BHAI' said it.

Moreover, it’s strange how we do not look right or left before bashing someone. BUT, THAT DOES NOT MEAN HE DOES NOT NEED BASHING. As soon as he made that comment, the irresponsible man that he is, retracted and showed some guilt over uttering those words. However, it’s just plain surprising how he just won't say sorry, shouldn't take much from him considering his whole 'being human' outlook. If your father has said it and your family knows that you made a remark you shouldn’t have then just say sorry and not “I don't think I should have”. Having said that I believe that in India our idols and film stars along with all other individuals have a certain responsibility of acting or behaving in a certain manner keeping in mind how insensitive we are:
We are insensitive to the point of kicking a man out of our country and over to Pakistan, we are insensitive to the point of not having an insight towards how human psychology works so we look down upon beef- eaters and women who party and dress up, like how dare you live after eating your own choice of meat and wearing your own choice of clothes and saying things honestly and finally how dare you make a mistake and then even end up considering yourself a human?

So, if we know that we are insensitive then let’s just act responsibly which again, mind you, is not accepting the 'wrong'. From me to you, from so-called 'BHAI to KING', know that we are human and we make mistakes and sometimes we don't. The point being - let them be 'human'.

Salman's comment is wrong, as wrong as it can be and if Salim Khan can apologise on behalf of his son then so can the son. But before he does an institution of the country mustn’t threaten the man. He has gotten away with worse and not one of us blinked an eye to that. The man needs to pay for all that he has done and maybe a little for this comment of his. A sorry would suffice.

It is just very annoying how no one said anything about '3 idiots' and their 'balatkaar' humour endeavour. I mean, where is this hypocrisy coming from? In a movie, you laugh and in reality, you're just too damn critical? I wasn't fine with the jokes 3 Idiots gave us which included jokes about our body parts and I am not fine with this remark as well.

This is consistently going against the wrong in the society if I may say so. Media and these sudden 'women lovers' and this sudden wave of 'our women need protection' is good, I won't deny that, but just to keep it real;

CAN YOU PLEASE ACTUALLY MEAN AND SUPPORT YOUR STANCE consistently and not fizz out after this issue is over?

Written by Smita Ganguli

Aspiring cyber journalist but too damn opinionated.

Responsible & Quality Journalism: Broken Down

Ethics and principles form a very important part of any activity which we do daily. Same with the job of Journalism. There are specific rules and standards which the journalists are required to follow. It is not compulsory to do so but following them brings a certain flair, sense of responsibility and respect to the job done.

The basic codes for elements for responsible journalism include the principles of Truthfulness,Accuracy, Objectivity, Impartiality, Fairness and Public Accountability.

Who is a journalist? This is a good question. A journalist can be anyone. But at the same time, simply opening your camera and taking a photo, sharing it and calling it journalism isn’t fair to the term ‘Journalism’. Being a journalist has more to it than just sharing stuff online. There has to be a sense of responsibility and code to the job. The interest of the public has to the foremost thing to be considered while reporting. Because that’s what a journalist does. Reports about the happenings, events, issues of the outside world to the general public who can’t all take a first-hand look at it.

There is this problem with modern journalism which is media bias. Especially in the political issues, media bias exists to a large extent and a lack of neutral reporting is felt. But this is just one of the major problems. Some other notable problems that the readers face regarding Journalism practices are the lack of accuracy in providing the facts, poor investigating methods, planting propagandas in favour of parties, etc.

Keeping this in mind here are certain elements of Responsible& Quality Journalism which are imperative to be followed:

1. SEEK THE TRUTH: The accuracy of the facts mentioned is the most important thing in a news report or any other report for that matter. The reader is referring to the report for a reason and for that particular reason the facts have to be absolutely true and the reporter cannot compromise the accuracy of the facts for any reason as tweaking the facts for the organization’s or the reporter’s welfare is totally unethical and illegal in many matters. There has to be a certain discipline in which the reporter finds the facts and investigates the matter at hand.


2. NEUTRALITY: When the reporter reports a fact it is not a story that he has to plant in the readers’ mind. The happenings are true events and tweaking the facts in favour of any party just to influence the thinking of the readers is wrong on many levels. The motto here is simple: DON’T TAKE SIDES, BE FAIR.


3. KNOW THE BACKGROUND: Simply reporting a particular event first-hand without having any background information about the event or the people involved in the event just makes the reporter blindsided to the many facets of the event, eventually leading to the loss of accuracy. Background research and knowledge is of utmost importance.


4. CITIZENS-FIRST: While reporting the priority is to report or write about something in such a way that the actual information reaches the citizen and nothing is mixed in the story to make it more attractive. Again, UNETHICAL.


5. MEASURING EVENT IMPORTANCE: So many things happening out there. Some are important, some aren’t. But it is not for the organization to decide. They need to know what the public deems important and report it in a manner that they don’t lose track of what is important.


6. NO PLAGIARISM: The most important aspect of quality journalism is the originality. Under no circumstances is any journalist supposed to plagiarize. Originality is key to success and being the difference. Also, it is illegal, so originality is necessary.

There are many other codes that journalists need to follow but these are some of the very important ones which make the difference. The credibility of journalists has fallen down tremendously in the past years. Following a set code of conduct and ethical journalism may bring back the glory for this wonderful profession.



Written by Anand JC
Reader. Writer. Teacher. Preacher. Occasional Exerciser. Master Procrastinator ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)