Wednesday, October 19, 2005
What on earth is Mid-Day thinking?
I suppose many of you have already read about yet another episode in Bombay of a cop involved in a rape complaint. In this case, the cop in question is alleged to have raped a 15-year old girl, a minor, in the presence of her husband. While the story of a cop raping a minor is disturbing in and of itself, I was also taken aback by Mid-Day's coverage of the story.
The standard code for coverage of rape cases is that a journalist does not reveal the name of the rape victim. There is a school of thought (which I agree with) that says this practice is outdated since it involves some sort of implicit assumption of guilt/shame. However, one must also keep in mind societal realities, especially from the victim's frame of reference.
No, Mid-Day did not spill the name of the victim in this case. Worse, the paper actually published a photograph of the victim!! And not just publish a photograph, but also helpfully identified the victim as the one in 'the left foreground, wearing a red dupatta.' Oh yeah, they also identify her as being a 'bar girl.' You know what that is code for.
How screwed up is that? It's a little girl, a minor, who has been raped. She also belongs to a socio-economic segment where rape brings with it lifelong stigma. And what does Mid-Day do? Publish a photograph of this girl! Just in case!
And you think TOI represents everything that is wrong with Indian journalism.
The standard code for coverage of rape cases is that a journalist does not reveal the name of the rape victim. There is a school of thought (which I agree with) that says this practice is outdated since it involves some sort of implicit assumption of guilt/shame. However, one must also keep in mind societal realities, especially from the victim's frame of reference.
No, Mid-Day did not spill the name of the victim in this case. Worse, the paper actually published a photograph of the victim!! And not just publish a photograph, but also helpfully identified the victim as the one in 'the left foreground, wearing a red dupatta.' Oh yeah, they also identify her as being a 'bar girl.' You know what that is code for.
How screwed up is that? It's a little girl, a minor, who has been raped. She also belongs to a socio-economic segment where rape brings with it lifelong stigma. And what does Mid-Day do? Publish a photograph of this girl! Just in case!
And you think TOI represents everything that is wrong with Indian journalism.
