Metamorphosis of a Journalist

This Tuesday when the whole country was celebrating Independence Day a group of journalists committed a remarkable and noteworthy act which would down in the annals of history. This day would be always be remembered as the day when journalists turned into killers. A group of journalists gave a man matches and diesel to help him commit suicide inorder to get the dramatic footage which was telecast on most of the channels. First attempt at suicide went in vain and this is when this killer-journalists gave the man a diesel soaked towel and coaxed him to go ahead.

I was aghast, appalled , shocked and disgusted to see a man on fire and the full footage being shown again and again. The dramatic footage of the man, screaming and writhing in pain as he ran with his back on fire, was aired on several television channels like Sahara, IBN 7, Star news and Aajtak repeatedly. This poor man later died in hospital due to the severe burns he suffered. The police say his name was Manoj Mishra and he was a delivery man who was upset over what he said was a large sum of money owed to him by a state-run dairy farm whose milk he transported to customers. It is amply clear that this poor man came there to protest and not to commit suicide. He only threatened to do so but the journalists present there had a different ideas. They coaxed him and promised to douse the flames once they had taken a few shots. This poor man believed their lies and alighted himself but all the journalists fled the scene after taking the shots they needed and this man was taken to the hospital by a security guard. The police say charges would be pressed against the five journalists and they would be persecuted.

What next now in this game of reality show? May be live robbery and murder or better still kidnapping and rape. So, who is responsible for this death? A channel? Media's recruitment policy? Reality show pressure? Everyone knows that people's memory is short-lived and as soon as another crime is committed this would be forgotten. Indian law says a person can be sentenced to upto 10 years imprisonment for abetting suicide. But the mute question here is did they abet in suicide or did they kill a innocent deliberately for their selfish needs.

I feel the channels which encourage and promote such horrific acts and visuals should be hauled up and their licences cancelled with immediate effect. The editors who allow these kind of programmes to run as if its a marriage party ....Shame on you.

Nutty's Sunny days

The Sun seems to be smiling on Nutty. He seems to be everywhere giving quotes by the dozen, in papers, in the newschannels and also dining and wining with Pimp Singh. Yesterday Karan Thapar took him to the cleaners and it was quite amusing to see nutty being on the defensive.

This was in direct contrast to "Walk the talk" where you had Shekhar Gupta asking namby pamby questions and treating him in a reverend way. I have always admired Karan Thapar for his style and the manner in which he goes hammer and tongs at his guests. He always does his homework pretty well and is not afraid to ask anything. Critics say he is abrasive and doesn't let the other person speak , that he asks a question and answers it himself. Its a very unfair assessment because the occasions such incidents happen is when the guest starts fumbling and does not answer. Yesterday he gave Natwar Singh lot of time to talk and there was not one instance when he didn't let him have his say. I think the Congress would be more than happy if Nutty joins the wrestler's party.

Whoa! Arnab Goswami continued his comic act and must admit he has natural flair for comedy but alas, the mute question is when will the jains realise this and do something. Arnab when he was interviewing an American Diplomat on the Jaswant mole issue asked this priceless gem of a question ," Sir, does the US govt has moles in India" ? If I was the diplomat I would have given him a list of the moles operating with their cell nos. This man sure needs some special award for his IQ and one can write a book on the number of "faux pas" he has committed. One more priceless gem from the past was when APJ Abdul Kalam was elected as president and this Arnab was interviewing a scientist friend of Kalam. He asked him, " Since when do you know Abdul Kalam Azad" ? In the same programme, while addressing another scientist whose name was Sarvannan, Arnab called him as Mr. Kalam. I wish and pray that Arnab continues in providing us with such laughs. With his natural god given talent, I feel Arnab should have his own show called the THE ARNAB SPRINGER SHOW.

The issue of self praise is assuming gigantic proportions with Rajdeep. Earlier he was used to pat himself on the back once a week but now its everyday. Everyday he says "Only CNN-IBN is giving you this special insight" . Its even more silly with most people being unhappy with their post appraisal increase and is a classic example of preaching what you don't practice.