Go Home Indian Media – How we fail people in our never ending quest for TRPs--ESSAY WRITING

http://www.newsgram.com/go-home-indian-media-search-your-trps-somewhere-else-says-nepal/

All across the world May 3 is celebrated as the ‘World Press Freedom Day.’ On this day, people pay tribute to the journalists for their courage and commitment towards freedom of speech. But on Sunday, Nepal wasn’t a part of these celebrations. Instead, #GoHomeIndianMedia was the trending hashtag in the country with over 60,000 tweets.

Widely regarded as the ‘fourth pillar’ of the Indian democracy, the Indian media has been slammed for multiple reasons of late. And on all such occasions, Twitterati have been quick to jump on to the media and make their voices heard. Right from the media’s insensitive and sensational coverage of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and Times Now’s #ShamedinSydney campaign aimed at bashing the Indian cricket team to covering the Nepal tragedy as a ‘public relations exercise’ for the Indian Government, the Indian media has done little to enhance its reputation in the past few years.

Nepal has taken to the social media to bash the Indian media for their ‘insensitive and ‘dramatic’ coverage of the natural calamity, which has left over 7,000 dead in the Himalayan nation. Most notable of the criticisms came from one Sunita Shakya, a Nepali origin girl. She published a blog on CNN saying, “Your media and media personnel are acting like they are shooting some kind of family serials.”

Her observation further added, “Thanks to tons of reporters who came to Nepal from those rescue planes of India, you took a seat where a victim could be transported to hospitals/ health camps. Thanks to you all reporters, you took a seat where a bag of food and supplies could be placed to send to those hardly hit places.”

But this was perhaps not the first time that the Indian media has preferred to ask ‘How are you feeling?’ instead of helping a person in need. Questions such as ‘How many people of your family have died in the earthquake?’ were heard by the locals more than once. Some people in Nepal also accused the media of spreading lies and presenting a false picture in front of the world. The locals have accused the Indian media of being excessively self praiseworthy when others were doing just as much to help the needy.