Thursday, August 10, 2006
The Indian indifference
Yesterday's Pune Edition of Times Of India carried an article on the front page about a man in Rajasthan who became a father at 88. As if that was the burning issue in the country. And isn't that the reason why Pune Times exists in the first place ? One of my friends who doesn't read the main paper, read that article only.
In contrast, the Indian Express is carrying one article daily on each of the 180 odd victims of the deadly Mumbai blasts of 7/11. It is their near and dear ones who have to bear the pain while people who weren't directly affected have forgotten the blasts in less than a month.
It is this indifference that is costing us dear. As one panelist said on the "We The People" Special(NDTV 24X7) on Mumbai blasts "We are dying anyway. It is for us to decide how to die".
In contrast, the Indian Express is carrying one article daily on each of the 180 odd victims of the deadly Mumbai blasts of 7/11. It is their near and dear ones who have to bear the pain while people who weren't directly affected have forgotten the blasts in less than a month.
It is this indifference that is costing us dear. As one panelist said on the "We The People" Special(NDTV 24X7) on Mumbai blasts "We are dying anyway. It is for us to decide how to die".
// posted by aditya @ 10:46 AM 
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>> In contrast, the Indian Express is carrying one article daily on each of the 180 odd victims of the deadly Mumbai blasts of 7/11.
Agree in total. IE is a true "news" paper. TOI is glorified toilet paper.
Agree in total. IE is a true "news" paper. TOI is glorified toilet paper.
I dont quite agree. First an 88 year old becoming a father is news.. something that you don't get to hear daily.. something that a newspaper is expected to contain, as obvious from the name. Second it can't go into Pune times, because the man wasn't from Pune. Third I was the friend adizone was referring to and I did read one more sleazy article in the main paper. ToI rocks :)
In contrast, I don't see why the stories of the victims is news. Those are glamorized everyday stories of people we might meet in our everyday lives. I don't quite agree that the purpose of a newspaper is to bring pain and misery to the person reading it. I am not insensitive or indifferent to the pains, but I don't think I am doing them any good by reading about their lives and their stories aplashed on the front page and torturing myself.
It would make sense if "we the people" could do something about it, something more active & useful than reading newspapers and discussing about them?
-Shyam
In contrast, I don't see why the stories of the victims is news. Those are glamorized everyday stories of people we might meet in our everyday lives. I don't quite agree that the purpose of a newspaper is to bring pain and misery to the person reading it. I am not insensitive or indifferent to the pains, but I don't think I am doing them any good by reading about their lives and their stories aplashed on the front page and torturing myself.
It would make sense if "we the people" could do something about it, something more active & useful than reading newspapers and discussing about them?
-Shyam
# posted by 
: 2:52 AM
: 2:52 AM
Mahesh, I agree with you fully and whole heartedly.
Shyam:
Here is what I think about TOI. A newspaper in someway or the other reflects the type of society as it exists.
And I dont want to belive or accept that we live in a flippant, frivolous society where we are more concerned about how a 88 year old has become a father, or how some American woman has become pregnant at the age of 65 or how Britishers are waking up to the new craze of Indian food, music and woman (the last two are totally out of my imagination but is a type of news that would easily make into TOI )
I would rather belive or like to belive that we live in a society which is more concerned about the people, their lives, their country and which has news articles which really stimulate your grey cells as opposed to a nice glossy paper which advertises Rolex, Arrow, Bose Audio, Omega and stuff like that.
I would also not like to read how some irrelevant western celebrity (IWC) is dating another IWC or how some IWC has had a fallout with some guy or how some IWC literally went sleepless for 3 nights before her movie premier. It was a good paper till some 8-9 years ago. But now, for me, it has degenerated to unknown depths. Infact everything related to that group falls under the same category for me.
Radio Mirchi and their incessantly blabbering and irritating RJ's, Indiatimes portal and the gaudy, raunchy photos and links. Infact these things remind me of how we write our engineering assignements. Give no thought to it, scribble something and finish it quickly.
And if IE dosnt do anything good, neither does TOI do anything constructive for the people. IE atleast is faithful to the spirit journalism. (Consider the various exposes IE had made as compared to TOI. Killing of engineer in Bihar being one such example. )
-Abhinav
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Shyam:
Here is what I think about TOI. A newspaper in someway or the other reflects the type of society as it exists.
And I dont want to belive or accept that we live in a flippant, frivolous society where we are more concerned about how a 88 year old has become a father, or how some American woman has become pregnant at the age of 65 or how Britishers are waking up to the new craze of Indian food, music and woman (the last two are totally out of my imagination but is a type of news that would easily make into TOI )
I would rather belive or like to belive that we live in a society which is more concerned about the people, their lives, their country and which has news articles which really stimulate your grey cells as opposed to a nice glossy paper which advertises Rolex, Arrow, Bose Audio, Omega and stuff like that.
I would also not like to read how some irrelevant western celebrity (IWC) is dating another IWC or how some IWC has had a fallout with some guy or how some IWC literally went sleepless for 3 nights before her movie premier. It was a good paper till some 8-9 years ago. But now, for me, it has degenerated to unknown depths. Infact everything related to that group falls under the same category for me.
Radio Mirchi and their incessantly blabbering and irritating RJ's, Indiatimes portal and the gaudy, raunchy photos and links. Infact these things remind me of how we write our engineering assignements. Give no thought to it, scribble something and finish it quickly.
And if IE dosnt do anything good, neither does TOI do anything constructive for the people. IE atleast is faithful to the spirit journalism. (Consider the various exposes IE had made as compared to TOI. Killing of engineer in Bihar being one such example. )
-Abhinav
# posted by : 12:21 PM
: 12:21 PM << Home
