[Reader-list] media coverage of Wednesday Mumbai attacks

[geeta seshu]

Hi,
I'm a print journalist based in Mumbai. I had a whole lot of problems too
with television media coverage. Specifically:

1. India TV had background music in the midst of live coverage and began
having commercial breaks too. India TV had an interview with a 'terrorist'
and its anchors were trying to argue with him as to why he was killing all
these people - even as the entire killing was on. While this is hugely
debatable, what made it worse was that they announced a commercial break in
the middle of the 'conversation' with the terrorist. I waited to see if it
would resume but it never did and I learnt later that the government leaned
on the channel.

2. CNN-IBN was high octave and frenzied, save its young reporter (I think
her name was Toral). I was told its head, Rajdeep Sardesai, even dragged a
Taj chef away from another channel for an interview while he was being
interviewed! It was also very jingoistic - but that was the general trend of
all the channels...

3. TV media,whether English or Hindi, concentrated on celebrities - we had
Shobha De or Simi Garewal in the english channels and Sanjay Dutt or some
such film star in the hindi channels...these are hardly the opinion-makers
of Mumbai. yet, they were given undue importance and their views aired for a
long time.

4.Times Now (which otherwise did a great job thanks to that reporter at Taj
_Mahrook), went on and on that a war was on! Was that wise? An attack which
is confined to one part of the city - and i can vouch for the fact that in
Bandra, after the first day when people realised that no other terroristst
were at large and they were confined to the south mumbai area, it was
business almost as usual!

5. What happened to the blasts at Vile Parle and Dockyard Road? How did they
happen? Who were behind them....we are still clueless.

6. What is the involvement of D company...how much of his local network was
utilised for this operation? Why is the media silent on this or even on his
links with Sharad Pawar?

7. When Modi came to the Taj site, we saw this ridiculous image of him
shooing aside some BJP chap who came to greet him, as he was blocking the
television cameras...even priyanka kakodkar of NDTV had to crouch so as to
stay out of the camera's view of Modi....there was no attempt to on the tv
channels part to ay this was not an image worth focusing on - especially
when the shooting was still on! He was utilising the media, and the media
played along...

Apart from the media coverage, I also have to add that the general jingoism
everywhere is hugely disturbing - RR Patil raises a slogan Bharat Mata Ki
Jai and today, that's become the general slogan of all the citizens groups
that are going around lighting candles everyday.

Of course, the college students who organised the march at Carter Road were
obviously too young to know the divisive way that slogan was used in the
freedom movement and even during the 1991-92 riots in Mumbai and were saying
Jai Hind too !

Generally, all the people one speaks to feel under attack and feel something
must be done...few are clear what needs to be done. So, when people voice
things like youth must get compulsory military training for a year or wage
war on Pakistan, no one gets a chance to counter it strongly enough.

The NDTV Barkha Dutt show had Simi Garewal talking about Paki flags in slums
near Four Seasons Hotel and now, DNA has a campaign called the 'Eyes and
Ears' campaign (probably a take off from the Delhi police informers
campaign)...

So easy to see the right-wing rubbing their hands in glee and waiting for
the harvest of blood and votes!

Geeta