How the fog of war has blinded journalists to their roles – By Salil Tripathi
Wars create heroes out of individuals who show great courage. But wars also create clowns who clothe themselves in patriotism, and strut and fret their hour upon the stage. The rising tensions between India and Pakistan over the past few weeks have resulted in many of the latter, at least on this side of the line of control.…
It is necessary to differentiate these journalists from those who expressed sympathy for the CRPF jawans and their families, which is compassionate – nobody deserves to die the way they did, even if it can be argued that the jawans were aware of the risks their profession poses. Some journalists understandably expressed their condolences. But for others, emotion began to colour their reporting, blurring the lines between the professional and the personal.
Indeed, the affliction that took hold of some newsrooms was baffling. Network anchors fell over themselves to outdo one another’s displays of patriotism, complete with bizarre visuals of landscapes enveloped in billowing smoke, graphics that would be hazardous to those suffering from epilepsy and hashtags dripping with patriotism, shattering any barrier that may have existed between a state-propaganda channel and a credible news network.…
https://caravanmagazine.in/media/question-journalists-support-for-armed-forces
SEE ALSO:
- Today, Freedom From Fear Is Freedom From Mainstream Media – By Ravish Kumar (Feb 28, 2019, The Wire)
https://thewire.in/media/today-freedom-from-fear-is-freedom-from-mainstream-media - Our Captured, Wounded Hearts: Arundhati Roy On Balakot, Kashmir And India – By Arundhati Roy (Mar 1, 2019, Huffington Post)
https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/our-captured-wounded-hearts-arundhati-roy-on-balakot-kashmir-and-india_in_5c78a574e4b0de0c3fbf6b50 - When Indian news channels turned into fish markets! – By Kabir Deb (Feb 27, 2019, Countercurrents)
https://countercurrents.org/2019/02/27/when-indian-news-channels-turned-into-fish-markets/ - I’m a Retired Naval Officer and For Me, War Isn’t a Video Game – By Sandhya Suri (Mar 1, 2019, The Quint)
https://www.thequint.com/my-report/air-strike-india-pakistan-peace-dialogue-no-war
