By Ananya S Guha
Now the latest brouhaha is the sudden, tragic and very unfortunate death of a prima-donna, the former wife of a Minister. The media, the electronic media especially has taken advantage of this unfortunate incident, to evoke histrionics and story-telling. A private, and personal matter has not only been blown out of proportions, but has militated against the basic privacy which is not only the innate right of a person, but has made the private ostentatiously and sadly enough, grotesquely public. Especially a particular Hindi news channel has been guilty of such a lapse. Around the same time a nationally known cine artist passed away, but there was silence on the part of the media. The raucousness started only after the alleged suicide of this lady and the supposed affair of her husband with a Pakistani journalist. One not only feels sorry for the Minister, also known for his flair as a brilliant writer and thinker. That he has himself acknowledged his disgust at the wild eruption of the media, including the social media underpins the tragedy further. A public figure may not only be subject to public scrutiny. Everyone has a right to privacy and personalization. By crying hoarse about the death and extra marital affair, once again the electronic media is culpable of violating basic norms of the private and the deeply personal. And that too during a time, when many political changes are happening in the polity of the country.
The media cannot abnegate or abrogate social responsibility. True the media must report, but it also must weed out the ‘ bad ‘ news from the ‘ good ‘ and relevant news. Education for example never seems to hold centre stage for the media, except through government media to highlight certain measures taken by the government. That is very fair enough- but fairer would be if the private electronic media takes up the cause of education and highlights good work done there, especially for the disadvantaged.
Meaty gossip and sensationalism, cannot always be news of the hour. It should be mentioned but that is all. See what a Hindi news channel has done- within minutes of the ‘ suicide ‘ it has unwound a narrative, which gloatingly includes the personal lives of a husband and wife. Three marriages it says succinctly, but triumphantly. This is nothing compared to the marriages of Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, who left each other and came back to each other with alarming alacrity!
It is not only tragic but infinitely sad that so much of noise and sensation is made out of death, so much of past riposte which took place apparently between two people, the wife and the amour of the Minister, all made glaringly and sickeningly public.I think this not only calls for censorship, but some kind of an embargo must be put on such news, which is only a means to titillate and excite, no not curiosity but plain and simple mesmeric gossip. For God’s sake respect the privacy and personal world of an individual, especially an individual which the media likes to portray through his writings. And think of the other lady involved who lives in a country, which is not the best friend of ours, but she also has a right to her private world. The trilogy of two women and a man is used adroitly to tell ‘ stories ‘. Shakespeare did it in his sonnets, but the electronic media in question here is certainly no Shakespeare!
The death ostensibly took place in a bizarre turn of events, but why lay out certain hideous details, and making everyone from the hotelier to the doctor express their views. Personal histories are not always public history, but personal lives of individuals, whether it be a Minister or an actor must be respected – it cannot be a grotesque mix of truth and hyperbole. And this just what has happened, while the country’s main issues are once again losing ground, minute by minute, day by day. The same media has also suggested pretty strongly, that the Minister could be in a spot of bother- so what? Personal emails, mails etc have been raked up- for what, is it to vindicate to espouse with glee the cause for a ‘ public morality ‘? Who are its protagonists? The cine world of India always traduces such morality with aplomb, how many times does the media project such uproarious lies?
Come on let’s get down to ground reality and look at how disillusioned the common man in India is. Let us look more at the faraway look in a child’s face, the child who is robbed of education, let us portray the stories of rapists and see how indignity after indignity is heaped on women, including tourists.
Then maybe will we hang our heads in shame. There is tragedy in every death…