Thursday, November 27, 2008

'Numb'ai

Mumbai being held to ransom again. This time a really planned and horrifically beautifully executed terror strike by the Deccan Mujaheddin. I woke up to 50 missed calls on all the phone lines we have. Parents, relatives, friends... all worried. Am pretty shaken by the regularity of attacks on Mumbai.

What I don't understand is why the TV channels, notably Times NOW and Headlines Today are bent upon showing where the police operations are, where they are stationed(roof tops of nearby buildings, each of them named!), how many of them(20 at each location), what weapons they possess (smoke bombs, AK 47s, hand grenades) and what their strategy could be (ah, finally speculation!) Do they think the terrorists in the Taj Mahal hotel have NO access to television????? Irresponsible journalism. In the name of 'breaking news', they are only sensationalising the terror strike. No depth of coverage. No feelings for the hostages' families. (Ex: On Times Now, there was a hot line for hostages to reach out to their families. A person calls asking for any info about his brother-in-law who was last seen in Kandahar, a restaurant in the Trident Oberoi. The reporter cuts him off mid sentence with assuring news reports that the Taj was the focus of the police force. How would this caller feel?)

I hope Mumbai moves to a higher level of security. Pray for the hostages. May the terrorist be caught and punished, in their lifetime or atleast mine.

4 comments:

  1. I agree to everything you have said. Its sad.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am usually a very pro-media person but right now I just feel all media should be banned to been seen anywhere in mumbai. they just want TRP ratings nothing else...

    Its evoking amazing amount of anger in me

    ReplyDelete
  3. true.

    i cant even bring myself to watch TV thats been constantly on at work. some reporter just used the term final assault some 9 times in 3 sentences!

    they have no clue what they are doing. but i wonder what makes them stake their life for breaking news?

    praying for police, army and hostages...

    abha

    ReplyDelete
  4. You are absolutely right. The same thoughts ran through my mind as I watched the news. How irresponsible could they get?

    When will the madness end?

    ReplyDelete