Why News Channels in India need to be more responsible in their reporting and not twist facts to sensationalise..

Drama in real life
Shailaja Bajpai Posted online: Friday , July 11, 2008 at 1548 hrs

Here’s how a news story spins out of control in successive broadcasts
They call it the news and then make it into fiction. We know this but somehow can never quite find the clinching evidence. Well, here’s one example where first there was news and then there was a story.

Friday, CNN-IBN: A report on a young girl named Shinjini, who had participated in a reality talent contest on a regional channel and was gravely ill with a debilitating condition that had robbed her of her voice and mobility. We see Shinjini lying helpless in a hospital bed. The father of the girl said the harsh words of the judges before she was eliminated had depressed her enormously, leading to her mysterious ailment. CNN-IBN quoted a doctor in Kolkata who said that depression cannot cause such a condition and that the responsibility lay elsewhere — it is of chemical origin.
Five minutes later, Aaj Tak broadcast the same item. ‘Judges scold Shinjini’, was the first headline (the original Hindi daant maari sounds more ominous and hard-hitting). We see Shinjini dancing during the show, lively, vibrant. Cut to the judges who look forbidding. Aaj Tak said that the judges were very harsh (only to Shinjini?). The father was quoted saying roughly what he said on CNN-IBN — that the judges had brought on the ailment. Then, Aaj Tak asked a rhetorical question: “Judges ne Laxman rekha to nahin paar ki?”, thereby suggesting that they had (but which rekha is that?).
Ten minutes on, it was the turn of Star News. “Reality show ne chheen li uski awaaz”, it cried out. It repeated Shinjini’s experience on the reality show, it showed Shinjini perform on stage, cut to the same grim judge and reached the same conclusion (or should it be accusation?) — that the judges had done it to Shinjini.

We were then transported to her bedside where we saw a lady (presumably her mother) and were told by the anchor that Shinjini is being treated at Bangalore’s Nimhans Hospital. “Awaaz gum ho gayi hai”, is the accompanying commentary, “Ek reality show ne ... kiya hai”.
The angry father spoke: Shinjini was eliminated when in tenth position. She was very depressed. He excoriates the judges and the show — programmes like this should be stopped if they cannot be conducted in the right manner. A friend (or fellow contestant) takes the stand and describes Shinjini’s hopes and dreams of an acting career. But, declares, Star News, the judges gave their verdict (“Suna diya faisla”) and it proved very costly (“Bhaari padi”). One judge named Ringo replied: it’s been two months (since Shinjini was eliminated) and now they are saying we are responsible... how is it possible (or words to that effect). Star News is not listening. It returned to the helpless Shinjini: “Khamosh hai Shinjini — her childhood has been snatched from her.
There you have it: a tweak here, a tweak there, and a straight report developed twists and turns. In its report, CNN-IBN did not air the views of the judges and the Hindi channels chose to believe the father without any recourse to a second opinion from the medical profession.
Nobody told us what harsh words were used by the judges to Shinjini, nor did anyone question the advisability of parents allowing children to compete in reality shows or their pressure on the youngsters to excel. And what about the nature of the ailment?
A sad and saddening account of Shinjini’s condition became a sensational story about the judges’ malevolent role. This happens to the news every day. Facts become fiction faster than a novelist could convert them.
That, possibly, explains why so many of us so often turn to sports for relief. Last week there was plenty of it — Euro soccer, Asia Cup, New Zealand-England and West Indies-Australia ODIs, Wimbledon, etc. In sports we can take the news for what it is: Spain-1, Germany-0.