'De mortuis nil nisi bonum' - so goes an old adage, meaning 'Of the dead, speak no evil'. That is understandable, why would one want to talk ill of the dead? I mean, whats the point?
Death seems to take people by surprise every time it occurs. It is as if such a thing has never happened before, not in human history!! Well, not all the deaths are treated in the same way, though. Not less than 1.2 million people die every year all over the world due to road accidents and India's contribution to that figure is a chilling 1.14 lakh per annum. This number is higher than the number of people that die in terrorists attacks in any year. But unlike terrorist attacks, the road accidents are not so glamorous. 'People don't talk about them at parties' - As Jack Nicholson says! Well, why would people talk about such inconsequential topics? Where is the masala, I ask. There is no religion, there is no heroism, no Jihad, no a superior sense of morality. Why would people talk about it?
Media lionizes and glamorizes some deaths. Politicians, movie stars, cricketers, actresses. A mediocre actor suddenly becomes the greatest actor of the century. An anti-national, criminal politician suddenly becomes a hero. Media praises the rich for *being rich*. Glorifies politicians for *doing their duty*, praises an actor for *Acting*. Because thats what media is all about. It is business. They need a purple cow to sell. They want people to talk about their 'products'.
FUCK media!
ప్రజలకు కూడా ఇప్పుడు అలాంటి కథనాలే కావాలి..
ReplyDeleteA sane voice in an insane world.
ReplyDeleteYou need to ask a counter factual question: what should print/tele/internet medai suppose to do in order to attract if they were not to publish something sensational?
ReplyDeleteLook at a fictitious front page head line:
"RABIES DEATH TO DOUBLE IN DECADE: Mexican Squirrel Crosses the Rio Grande"
What would it do?
1) Parents in South western states, would be demanding local health authorities do something to control the menace.
2) Local TV anchors would interview anxious mothers about this problem
3) Public TV would follow up with an hour special on the cruelty of the countermeasures taken to control the squirrel population.
First, such critter does not exist; even if they were to exist, the odds of getting rabies doubles from what? May be from 1 in 100,000 to 2 in 200,000.
This is the garbage peddled by media; peddle thy will since they are in the business, just like many federal agencies in the states.
This is from Laudan's book on Dangers.