MxMIndia

Tag: Crime

  • With shockers in the news every second day, the question arises – does media feed the frenzy? Paritosh Joshi takes a closer look

    Paritosh Joshi: Eternal Vigilance – The Price of Freedom

    By Paritosh Joshi

     

    Twice last week we have been shaken to the very core of our being as unspeakable horrors unfolded, in a distant commuter town in Connecticut and then right here at home on a bus in Delhi. Anger, indignation, frustration, desire for vigilante leveling of scores outside the criminal justice system, fear, sorrow, resignation… they have all run their predictable, grim course as people vent a deluge of emotions that inevitably arise in response.

     

    There’s a subtext to the discourse that we cannot, even dare not afford to miss. In both instances, the media and their portrayals: of gun culture in one instance, attitudes toward women in the other; are being identified as a factor in amplifying and even glamourising criminal dysfunction. Anguished voices in digital forums are pointing at how a deranged mind of a bright if introverted high school student may have sought out his gruesome final fifteen minutes of media glory in a schoolyard massacre. Or how Indian films and television shows don’t merely condone ‘eve teasing’ but encourage it, thus building a slippery slope from where descent into the most perverted sexual crime is an inevitable consequence.

     

    What compounds the felony, in popular perception, is that the media are seen to be doing this driven solely by the greed for more eyeballs, even if it is at the cost of taste or common decency.

     

    Which brings me to a theme that I have dwelt on before and will continue to belabor, ad nauseam if need be, until things begin to improve. The theme of responsible self-regulation.

     

    Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were among the earliest philosophers to develop the theory of Social Contract. The theory attempts to explain why an individual in human society is prepared to surrender some of her individual liberties to become a part of a governed collective that in return protects her other rights and freedoms. The idea develops quite intuitively, predicated around the permanent vulnerability of an individual outside of the collective to all sorts of perils, natural and man-made, and how joining the covenant instantly trumps a large majority of them. Extending this Social Contract idea, the Media belong to, and are intended to serve, the community in which they operate and to which they must perforce surrender a few of their untrammeled rights in order that they retain most of them. If the Media are seen as engaging in dysfunctional behaviour, they open themselves up to the charge of defying the Social Contract and can be penalized by being docked all their rights and privileges within the democratic polity of the day.

     

    A particular example of Media delinquency is on display when horrors, such as those of recent memory, are squeezed for all they offer by way of ghoulish ‘entertainment’. We all remember the classic but usually entirely rhetorical “Is bhayanak apatti ke baad aap kya mehsoos kar rahe hain?” type question asked to unwary and naive survivors of disasters. Even in the current events cited above, the victim’s and the perp’s relatives have already been sought out and interviewed at a stage when their lives have abruptly upended most cruelly.

     

    I see tokenism too. A few media houses have organized public vigils and little quasi-political rallies where they will have plenty of ‘grief’ on display, complete with slogans, banners and similar appurtenances that need to be worn only so as to demonstrate bnafide intent. This is not going to cut it.

     

    In fact, nothing less than a public mea culpa by the Industry as a whole particular issued by the leading News and Entertainment broadcasters, followed by an unequivocal commitment to introspect on and develop prescriptions for what ails their ethical systems, will suffice in the court of public opinion.

     

    What if no such acknowledgement is forthcoming?

     

    Well then, start preparing yourselves for that most unfortunate and liberty-destroying outcome: a government-appointed and -empowered media watchdog.

     

    Paritosh Joshi has been a marketer, a mediaperson and a key officebearer on industry bodies. He is developing an independent media advisory practice. His column, Media Matrix, appears on MxMIndia on Thursdays

     

  • In Freaking News, which will now appear every Tuesday and Friday, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare in the morning papers and the nightly news. And sometimes the afternooners, the newsmags and all that's on the Web

    [MJR] Crime & transport are issues of national importance

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Newspapers in Mumbai this week have been pre-occupied – and quite rightly – with two major issues: transport and crime. A fire at a signalling cabin crippled the Central Railway’s Main and Harbour lines, affecting some 40 lakh commuters. The problems are not likely to vanish fast either.

     

    The coverage has been comprehensive and detailed – and it is difficult to fault any paper here.

     

    In fact, even with the other more sensational case of murders and the underbelly of the glamour industry, newspapers have shown remarkable restraint while still providing blanket coverage.

     

    Both stories in a sense are not Mumbai-centric. The collapse of a commuter system in the country’s financial capital means that millions cannot get to work on time, if at all. This affects productivity and, ultimately, profits for everyone. Also, for other large and growing metros there is a lesson here about the importance of infrastructure and alternative public transport systems.

     

    The case of the murders may be murky but also affect the nation. Thousands still flock to Mumbai as the mecca of the film and television world. Many of these are innocent or naïve in the ways of the world and get easily conned by the criminal elements that hang around the fringes of the industry. The three murders being investigated – an old gentleman whose son was fooled by the suspects, a young man who was trying to cut business deals with them and a young model – are cases in point and all the victims came from outside the city.

     

    The larger point is that these are issues – logistic and sociological – which affect the whole country. Newspapers elsewhere should take them up. And not just for the salacious context of the murders.

     

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    The successful launch of Agni V got its space on TV and in newspapers but perhaps nowhere so much as on Twitter and in cyberspace. People were breathless with excitement over this great achievement by India and there was little or any objective or even critical comment. It is quite difficult to be critical about “nationalistic” issue on the Internet because of the waves of patriotism which sweep all over it!

     

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    The fifth edition of the Indian Premier League reveals some maturity on part of the Indian media. The last four years have been filled with enthusiastic hyperbole or visceral hatred all over TV and pages of print. Since last year was something of a flop and the opening ceremony of this season a damp squib, there was general wariness all around.

     

    However, with the IPL being treated more as a sporting encounter with elements of fun rather than a be-all-end-all mega-event which must bring our lives to a standstill, it is well on its way to being a success. Media hype has been limited but media coverage has been adequate. This year, hysteria over the owners and their glamorous friends has been limited.

     

    The worst you can say about the IPL is that the studio shows are enormously irritating and tacky, where seasoned cricketers are forced into silliness by the hosts. When these same hosts prance all over the cricket field, they are no less silly and the cheerleaders in the studio just look tacky. No one seems to care much about those on the field either – and their dancing hasn’t reached the high level of gymnastic ability and artistic proficiency that American cheerleaders have to display. In fact there is a lot of wiggling and waving but practically no dancing. Just saying.

     

    * * *

     

    As you may have guessed, I have been sadly deficient in my TV news watching this week. Blame it on the weather – didn’t want to get any hotter under the collar!

     

  • There was nothing romantic or glamorous about the crime beat, and Oswald Pereira still firmly believes that the best way to survive as a crime reporter is to draw a 'Laxman Rekha'.

    Newswatch: Oswald Pereira on crime reporters and their tryst with the underworld

    By Oswald Pereira

     

    There’s a world of a difference between the underworld in reel life and real life. Dons in reel life are most often glorified or caricatured beyond reality. But now it seems that impressionable young crime reporters and seasoned veterans too while reporting on the underworld have lost touch with reality.

     

    The result: they tend to romanticise their role as crime reporters, assuming a larger-than-life persona for themselves; they are apparently taking more than necessary risks under the guise of investigative reporting.

     

    It’s one thing to be a good investigative journalist; it’s another matter when a crime reporter foolhardily goes into the den of the underworld- virtually bang bang, with a pen against the guns of the mafia.

     

    The fact that some young whiz kid journalists are editors hasn’t helped matters. In the good old days, a seasoned editor would caution and restrain over-enthusiastic reporters, but young editors lack that experience and maturity.

     

    The consequences are there to see: The murder of a journalist and the arrest of another.

     

    Could these have been avoided with more mature leadership or would it have been a different story if the journalists themselves had taken the necessary precautions and there was a system of checks and balances within the organisation?

     

    There are no simple answers to these questions. But there is definitely need for some serious thinking on these issues.

     

    I recall how during the communal riots in Mumbai in the 1980s, there was a fleet of ambassador cars that took us around to cover disturbances. We would inform the editor each time we went out. When the editor thought an incident was too dangerous to cover, he would restrain us. On one occasion, we sneaked out into a dangerous trouble spot in the dead of night out of sheer bravado, without informing the editor. But we had hell to pay when the editor learnt about it and the fact that we were real close to danger.

     

    As a crime reporter, I myself did a fair bit of investigation, going out into the field, meeting the underworld and dons. But I always watched my step and kept my distance. I had realised then that to write the next story, you had to avoid putting your hand into the mouth of the lion.

     

    Even in those days, there were some heady journalists who went about their job without a thought. I can still picture a trembling photo editor, surrounded by threatening members of a top underworld don. Instead of clicking a photograph or two and sneaking away, the photo editor had gone wild with excitement and clicked numerous photographs of the don being escorted down the steps of the court after attending a hearing of a case of extortion against him. This attracted the attention of the gang members and they threatened him with dire consequences. I had happened to know the don’s nephew, a college dropout, who spoke impeccable English. He was a contract killer and warned that he had already half a dozen murder cases against him; so one more wouldn’t make a difference. I intervened on the photo editor’s behalf. The nephew relented and let the photo editor off, only after a firm promise that no pictures would be printed in the next day’s newspaper. Quite interestingly, Mumbai crime branch officials were around, but they stepped in only later and one of them finally escorted the photo editor to his office, pillion-riding on his motorcycle.

     

    My job as a crime reporter included taking down police remand notes from the courts to report in my newspaper. Sometimes, I would be tapped on the back and guys whose necks were as thick as my shoulder would mock, “Writing a story, ah, ah.” I would smile and they would say, “Good, good, continue working.” Sometimes, tough-looking guys with bloodshot eyes, working for some don or the other, would visit our office, after my newspaper published a big story that I had written, and casually announce, “Bhai, wants to see you.”

     

    “Okay, I’ll come,” was my stock reply. Senior police officers too would drop hints or openly propose meetings with dons.

     

    Crime reporters then-I’m talking about the 1980s- too had dangers and temptations. We also had plenty of inside stories on offer from the underworld. But personally, I considered it rather risky to write a story based entirely on information from the underworld, unless, of course, it was verified by official sources… but even if it was, one had to make doubly sure that the official didn’t have a motive themselves.

     

    And journalists were sometimes the targets of the underworld. A crime journalist of a suburban newspaper was hacked by criminals. I pulled up the police commissioner of the area, who happened to be a good friend, and accused him of sleeping on the job. He retorted, “You guys are feasting on the job.”

     

    “What do you mean?” I asked, angrily.

    “The journalist used to extort money from the underworld, showing them the stuff that he was going to print the next day. So they put him to sleep,” he replied and laughed.

     

    That was the case of a crime reporter who paid with his life for demanding a price, not once, but many times over for not printing stories. But there were other crime reporters whose lives were threatened for doing an honest job.

     

    Among the various beats in a newspaper, reporters covering crime seem to be the most vulnerable to attacks. In the profession itself, crime reporters are not an envied lot. But it’s not a beat meant for the faint-hearted.

     

    Personally, among the beats that I covered in newspapers and magazines-crime, politics, business-I found the crime beat the most challenging and interesting; even more satisfying and fulfilling than later senior writing and editorial positions and as editor of niche defence and infrastructure magazines.

     

    But there was nothing romantic or glamorous about the beat; it was hard and difficult. I believed then, and still firmly believe, that the best way to survive as a crime reporter is to draw for yourself a Laxman Rekha… that you should not cross, come what way.

     

    (The writer is the author of The Newsroom Mafia, currently among the top new releases nationwide recently published by Grey Oak Westland.)