Oops, a Mistake!
Think about it - president of India is missing. That's what the Bangalore station of the state-run television Doordarshan reported in their regular Monday programme on missing persons. No, he was not kidnapped by any extremist or separatist group; nor was he out on an errand. In fact, on errand was, unfortunately, the station's sense of responsibility and on display was irresponsibility of the highest order. While the photograph of President K R Narayanan was being aired with the appeal for information as to his whereabouts, nobody at the station cared to look for the president at the Rashtrapati Bhaban in New Delhi. The station must be facing the music for the mistake. They should be, indeed.
Such mistakes tell on credibility of the media. People start losing faith in their authenticity and, at one stage, they may not just care about the news and views they disseminate. On a less humourous plane, during last year's floods, the BBC predicted that a few million people could die in famine as logical consequence of the loss of crops in the prolonged and pervasive floods. They back-tracked, however, a couple of days later. The damage was already done. The cynics clamoured about another blow to media's credibility.
The Doordarshan slip should be a lesson for "our" state-run media on what should not be done. Many, however, fear it might generate a negative inspiration - well, if "they can, what if we do." Let's see.
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