Cheap insinuations about Kanimozhi

I wish to draw your attention to the reporting of the ongoing case in the 2G scam. There are two aspects of the case which I will raise in this email and let you (your readers and fellow media personnel) decide whether they represent ethical media behaviour.

 

Firstly, out of all those charge-sheeted in 2G case, one of them is Ms Kanimozhi. She happens to be the only woman charge-sheeted in this case. There has been extraordinary media coverage as she is the daughter of Karunanidhi and a sitting MP. However, some articles in the media which appeared earlier this week deviated far from the 2G issue to provide other angles:

 

Firstly, Times of India published this story focussing on the relationship between Kanimozhi and her husband Mr Aravindan. The story calls Mr Aravindan a "guest" who flew down to be with his wife and how their marriage has now changed to a "friendly understanding".

 

In my opinion, though witch-hunt of women, especially high profile women, is not uncommon. But, to talk so casually about the marital relationship of a political leader is a new low. Furthermore, in a society which treats women differentially based on their marital status, this particular article was nothing short of a smear campaign. Times of India would never write something like this about any other male political leader.

 

The next story on the topic of her marital relationship was printed by Deccan Chronicle, here.  This article also indicates that "doubts linger on" about their happy marriage. Again, another piece worthy of tabloid gossip while a serious investigation is going on.

 

Another story by DNAunder the guise of covering the 2G case, talks only about camaraderie between A Raja and Kanimozhi in court but adds "all this while her husband was sitting beside her."

 

The three stories listed above have this in common - they are cheap, perverted articles bringing a marital relationship in to question and violating our fundamental right to privacy. It is up to senior, ethical media personnel to bring perspective in to this coverage and ensure that this does not set a bad precedent for reporting in Indian media.

 

Secondly, the role played by the media in covering the 2G scam has not been called in to question by anyone yet. But this does not mean that people have not condemned the character assassinations and factual inaccuracies that have come to pass. While the CBI investigation was in its early stages and even before the filing of chargesheet, certain English TV channels took the liberty of prefixing the name of the accused with the word 'Spectrum'. To label a particular person who had not even been accused by the CBI is the sad state of media ethics of the day.

 

In the lead-up to the trial, the Supreme Court had sought explanations from the CBI on the progress of investigation. In the process, the Supreme Court Judges had made oral remarks to ascertain the investigative procedures. Though this is a natural process, the oral remarks were published as headlines and in a hostile manner. Taking a strong exception to this unethical media behavior, the Supreme Court went as far as accusing the media personnel of "distorting" the orders and called for media to stop behaving as a "Super Jurist".

 

Now that the trial is ongoing in the CBI Special Court, certain sections of the media continue to desist from reporting fairly. On any issue, there will be at least two different viewpoints. However, the majority of media coverage on the 2G issue has resembled a ferocious witch-hunt. That India is now the second largest telecom network and there was a benefit to the Indian people from the increase of teledensity through the policies of the Government, were willfully ignored. 

 

If an article fails to publish the defense of the accused while only highlighting and headlining the allegations in the case, then how can it claim to fair and unbiased?

 

 

Your sincerely,

 

Sindhu Kumar

Madurai,