Patel defends decision on photographs

IN Media Practice | 20/12/2004

"Of course public figures in public places are fair game for media, I`m not sure how an argument can be made against that."

On December 15 Mid Day in Mumbai published on its front page photographs of  a couple identified as actors Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapur locking lips and tongues.  TV news channels lived off that story for the rest of the evening, with Zee News repeatedly showing the video clip from which Mid-Day’s  photographs were supposed  to have been taken.

The Hoot asked Aakar Patel, the editor of Mid Day to respond to some questions. We give his answers below.  

Hoot: You have told TV channels that the behaviour of public figures in public  places is in the public realm and not an invasion of privacy. Could you tell us what made you decide that these pictures would serve a public purpose? Does Kareena Kapoor`s love life really have anything to do with serving the country`s public interest?

AP:  I would hesitate at connecting the two sentences as you have. Of course public figures in public places are fair game for media, I`m not sure how an argument can be made against that.

Do the pictures serve a public purpose? My answer to that is media sections such as lifestyle, entertainment and sports may not, in the opinion of some, serve any higher purpose but that does not mean they ought to be banished.

Hoot: If you wanted to expose indecency are you not committing an indecency while doing so?

AP: It is incorrect to say that we wanted to expose indecency. Even a cursory read of that day`s Mid Day will show that is not the case. As is sometimes the case with such things, the coverage by other media of mid day is being confused with Mid Day`s coverage.

Hoot: How did you satisfy yourself that the phone video is genuine?

AP: We showed it to our technicians. It`s clean.

Hoot: Does Mid Day have a family readership and if so were such pictures on page one appropriate?

AP: I`m not sure what you mean by the rather quaint expression, but if you ask if women and children read Mid Day, the answer is yes. Is the picture of a couple kissing `appropriate`? Yes.

Hoot: Do you have any comments on the observation made by the Supreme Court that publishing such photographs cannot be in the public good?

AP: I have no comments on what the court says.

Prior to this interview Patel carried the following statement in his paper.

Mid Day on Kareena story
   By: Aakar Patel
   December 18, 2004