Media and responsibility Archives - Page 4 of 4

Plots and song

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

â€Bhushans get two prime farmhouse plots from Mayatwati govt for a songâ€ said the headline of Indian Express on 20/4/2011.

What song? Munni badnam hui? Sheela ki jawani? Dum maro dum? Did Bhushans sing the song in front of Mayawati?

The cost of the plot is Rs.3.5 crore. At the time of allotment 35 lakh rupees were to be paid. The rest to be paid in 16 instalments over 10 years. Is 3.5 core rupees a small amount? If it is less than quarter of the market rate what is the market rate? Sometimes the campaign against someone has motives other than exposing the wrongdoing. As Dom Moraes wrote in his book the campaign against Abdul Rahman Antulay was because Ramnath Goenka did not get cement.\

Cricket is not war

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Sport is not war. Cricket is a game and should be treated as such. In football and hockey many times players get physical. Sometimes football players play karate or kick boxing for which they deserve red card. In cricket scope for getting physical is limited. Some people talk of cricket as of war. They talk of India-Pakistan match as mother of all battles or the biggest battle. That should be avoided.

In a tournament there is one final. There is no final before the final. Some people first talked of India-Australia quarter-final match as final before the final. After that they talked of India-Pakistan semi-final match as final before the final.

No negotiations with criminals

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

India should have a policy of no negotiations with criminals whether they are terrorists, abductors, kidnappers, hijackers, pirates or Maoists. The policy should be followed by central and state governments. The policy should be irrespective of who the hostage is. The hostage may be a ministerâ€™s daughter, engineer, doctor, collector, truck driver or someone else. It does not matter whether there is one hostage or there are many hostages. When the policy of no negotiations is declared and followed there will be no pressure on any government.

Since December 1989 when Rubiya Sayeed was abducted and five terrorists were released there have been many cases when India has surrendered to criminals and released prisoners or paid ransom. In recent years Maoists have abducted many people and state governments have released prisoners. The abductions continue.

In December 1999 a hijacked plane was allowed to take off from Amritsar and go to Kandahar. Three terrorists were released who caused many deaths later on.

Murderer is not foot soldier

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

On 21/2/2011 Bombay High Court confirmed death sentence of Ajmal Kasab for his crimes during 26/11. Many people expressed happiness. Someone said he is a foot soldier and pawn and we have to concentrate or mastermind.

A murderer is neither a foot soldier nor a pawn. He is a criminal. A pawn does not have life. A man has life and he makes choices and should face the consequences.

Journalists and exaggerations

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Journalists are expected to report facts without exaggerations. They do not have the liberty to exaggerate. Poets and writers of fiction have the liberty to exaggerate. “De Villiers was quick to get to the ball, running Dravid out at the striker’s end by a mile.” (Aditya Iyer — Gambhir, Tendulkar keep India in hunt —…

Crime and media

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Media has a responsibility in what it shows and how it shows. If anything that TV channels do gives a boost to crime, TV channels refrain from doing it.
If some people call TV reporters and tell them at a particular they will go to a particular place and damage public or private property there or beat people, TV reporters should not go to cover that event but report to the police. The people want publicity for their crime and if there is no publicity there will not be crime.

Thoughts on 20/1/2007

Posted on January 20, 2007 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

If something is offensive TV channels should not show it. Sometimes TV channels give publicity to clips they say are offensive. IBN 7 showed a clip of which it said insulted Gandhi. More people came to know about the clip. The Government of India issued a notice to IBN 7 and the channel had to apologise.

There are demands for ban of various types of films but no demand to ban a film that glorifies tax evasion, bribery and smuggling.

Use of Internet for destroying someoneâ€™s reputation should be punished.

Blind Imitation

Posted on January 9, 2007 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

In India sons are not named after their fathers and hence it is incorrect to call father Sr and son Jr. Bal Thackeray is not Thackeray Sr and Uddhav Thackeray is not Thackeray Jr. Similarly Feroz Khan is not Khan Sr and Fardeen Khan is not Khan Jr.