Sad Story of Manoj Mishra
This year on August 15, the Day of Indian Independence something
happened in Gaya district in the State of Bihar that just brought a
sense of hatred in me against our media.
Manoj Mishra, a contract driver for the government run Sudha dairy, had tried everything to get his money from officials but in vain. When all the measures failed he planned an extreme step to mark his protest.
He chose August 15th as the D-Day to mark his protest and the step was to immolate himself in front of full public view.
He informed about his plans to media persons and they saw an opportunity to sensationalize the whole episode and get the much-needed popularity for their viewers.
At the designated place and time, he announced that he is going to set himself ablaze. He doused himself with diesel and took out the matchstick. He lighted the first stick but the breeze put it off and he was informed by the concerned media that his stick has been put off. And he was encouraged to burn the second matchstick. Then he burnt the second stick and set himself on fire.
All along, his actions were recorded on camera by all the media persons in different angles to get the best view for its slippery viewers. Not a single media person present there tried to stop him from burning himself or call the police. By the time he was admitted in the hospital it was very late, he had suffered sixty percent burn injuries. He finally succumbed to death on the same day.
What a pity on Media and our society. Media used to always teach us what a Good Samaritan should do when he comes across such incidents. But when it came to follow what it always preached, it chose business interest over the moral interest.
The worst part is that they encouraged him to do what he was doing. Media even provided him with diesel and matchbox and also informed him when his first matchstick was put off. The interest to feed its viewers with breaking footage of the self-immolation bid made them to forget their moral duty of saving him.
After all this, I just want to ask - IS THIS WHAT MEDIA IS SUPPOSED TO BE DOING FOR US AND OUR SOCIETY?
happened in Gaya district in the State of Bihar that just brought a
sense of hatred in me against our media.
Manoj Mishra, a contract driver for the government run Sudha dairy, had tried everything to get his money from officials but in vain. When all the measures failed he planned an extreme step to mark his protest.
He chose August 15th as the D-Day to mark his protest and the step was to immolate himself in front of full public view.
He informed about his plans to media persons and they saw an opportunity to sensationalize the whole episode and get the much-needed popularity for their viewers.
At the designated place and time, he announced that he is going to set himself ablaze. He doused himself with diesel and took out the matchstick. He lighted the first stick but the breeze put it off and he was informed by the concerned media that his stick has been put off. And he was encouraged to burn the second matchstick. Then he burnt the second stick and set himself on fire.
All along, his actions were recorded on camera by all the media persons in different angles to get the best view for its slippery viewers. Not a single media person present there tried to stop him from burning himself or call the police. By the time he was admitted in the hospital it was very late, he had suffered sixty percent burn injuries. He finally succumbed to death on the same day.
What a pity on Media and our society. Media used to always teach us what a Good Samaritan should do when he comes across such incidents. But when it came to follow what it always preached, it chose business interest over the moral interest.
The worst part is that they encouraged him to do what he was doing. Media even provided him with diesel and matchbox and also informed him when his first matchstick was put off. The interest to feed its viewers with breaking footage of the self-immolation bid made them to forget their moral duty of saving him.
After all this, I just want to ask - IS THIS WHAT MEDIA IS SUPPOSED TO BE DOING FOR US AND OUR SOCIETY?
posted by Rahul | 12:27 AM
10 Comments:
Hi. You commented on my blog earlier, I believe. Wow, India. It's a place that's always held my interest, although unfortunately I've only managed to see glimpses of it through Bollywood movies and some books. And yes, media nowadays--the more sensationalist, the "better". Did Manoj Mishra even get his point across concerning the topic he was protesting? It doesn't seem so. The focus of his protest (in the eyes of the media) definitely wasn't on what he was protesting about, but the grotesque way he was to do it. It's quite despicable how the media chose to just capitalise on this poor man's desperation.
this is the first time i heard this story and that is disturbing. i guess i made a good decision by not choosing a career in the media even if i finished a degree in broadcasting. i definitely agree that media will do anything for anything sensational even at the expense of moral values.
¡Hola Namesake!
Me agrada que te haya gustado el blog.Como no tengo suficiente conocimiento de tu idioma contactaré con personas que lo conozcan para poder leer el tuyo y darte mi opinion.
Un saludo, amigo
Francisco Torralba
www.astragalo.net
Thats a really disturbing news. I'm not sure if I did hear this somewhere, but just in case if you do have any news clippings of this story can u pass it across Thx!
Thanks for stopping by my blog. This sis a sad story. I just cannot believe how people can just watch someone do this to them selves.I see the same thing happening in the malayalam movies. peolple just watch someone being killed or hurt and not do anything about it. I thought it only happened in the movies.
The pathetic nature of the main stream media runs even deeper than that. They have prostituted themselves for profit as well as ideology.
Welcome to blogging....
oh this is pathetic...how selfish can one be for just a coverage!!!
this is sick.......have you seen the foto that keeps circulating on the www...a frail guy crawling towards the UN food camp...a vulture waiting for him to die...and the fotographer just clicked the foto and walked off. Later he allegedly killed himself out of depression....
How insensitive can we be...where is the world heading....
hi I loke your ideas.We are of similar mind perhaps.Its a strange world where birds of a feather flock together while opposites attract.I am a Devotee'of shirdi Sai Baba and I have the very same picture wherever I go.I am planning a trip to India after many years of study in Dharma,Bhakti and Sufi.It has been my dream since 14 years to go but my friends from India made me promise to find the Devine in my heart first.Now I have a good reason to go!I am a musician and i love sharing philosophe.Women and song are mundane but better than being a confused westerner.My GURU is within me.If you have any suggestions please visit my blog etc Namaste' or a salam o alecum whatever is clever have celebration! ralph usdan
Your blog is very touchy.I am from Jharkahnd ,earlier it was in Bihar,now it is a separate state.I know about all these so well.
No matter where,media is always a powerful tool,but unfortunately some times it uses its power in a wrong way,by popularizing and fantasizing the wrong things.In the U.S. too media is always in search of spicy stories ,so as to catch people's attention.That is sad because those bad insidents happened to some one,and some one else is just enjoying the gruesome images.I feel so bad for the family ,who had to go thorough this.
This is the reason I have almost stopped watching T.V,especially news.
i heard about this earlier.. and was very disturbed that day.. what the media does to stay in the business is downright ridiculous today.. no wonder a lot of people don't even watch the idiot box any more!!
I like the overall tenor of your blog... will keep coming back!
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