She and NDTV lawyers have forced a blogger to withdraw his criticism and render an unconditional apology. Until now I had never heard of the blogger, named Chyetanya Kunte (he is of Indian origin based in Netherlands). Now the whole world knows him.
And the joke is on Barkha. Someone has gone ahead and updated Wikipedia. Click on this link and scroll down to the section, criticism.
So, now what do I know:
a) There are two facebook groups that are anti-Barkha Dutt.
b) She has been criticized by Newswatch, a media watchdog based in Delhi, for being the worst anchor in terms of sensationalizing the Mumbai Terror Strikes.
c) She has been criticized for her coverage of Kargil war, something that her famous in the first place.
The TV news coverage was criticized by many. In fact, I have posted a blog comparing the Terror Coverage to Cricket Live. These are my views. Why should I be suppressed from expressing my views?
To be fair to Ms. Barkha Dutt, I have not seen the original text of the blog. There might have been something offensive in there. We wouldn't know. It has since been withdrawn and an apology has been published. But what is she going to do about the hate groups on facebook. Or for that matter Wiki or bloggers all around the world who at this very moment must be blogging away to glory.
So, here's my advise to Ms. Barkha Dutt:
Internet cannot be controlled. It is the voice of many. There is some good stuff there and a whole lot of trash. If you are a public figure, you take it all in your stride. If someone is criticizing you, then be assured that you have arrived. If something personal has been written about you - your family, your personal life - please take action; you have every right. But sending a pack of lawyers after a blogger who has quoted wiki is not the way of going about it. You, of all people associated with media, should know this. Unless, of course, you do not know the difference between personal and professional, criticism and libel, libel and slander. I will look forward to the next episode of We The People where you will discuss this issue. I am assuming you have the guts to do so. Meanwhile, go and hunt the entire Internet to find out all bloggers who criticise you. Happy hunting.
Picture courtesy: Billy Alexander
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4 comments:
Have you seen the movie ‘A Wednesday’? That movie’s TV reporter also reports similar confidential news over TV, but as a puppet. Coincidence??
That movie has different ending, thats a different issue. But, the movie clearly shows how such journalism is "A Terrorist’s DREAM COME TRUE", they get information on their finger tips without much difficulty!!
See Chyetanya Kunte blog post here: http://tr.im/dfew (Read until its live, currently its hosted on sulekha.com)
I hope this goes out all other jounalists/media who want to sensationlise/dramatise any news to increase their viewership.
They lack ethics and basic common sense.
I also recall during the Mumbai terror attact all the channels were taken off air for an hour, I thought the move by the gov was brillant but the media (The Times Now) called it a Black Day for India. Now this is what I call humour.
I had read some posts related to NDTV's sensational journalism earlier also. The lack of professional journalistic standards is very apparent. More than that, the fact that NDTV lawyers have forced a blogger to withdraw his post, is appalling. If the channel has the freedom to air their "VIEWS", why take that freedom away from a Blogger?
I was I was contemplating using the same picture with my post but then felt too lazy to search for it on the net. They want us to see no evil, speak no evil..
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