Media Mayhem

I came across this news article in the Times of India and it really got me annoyed. It’s about a student of Indian origin here in Australia that committed suicide due to not being able to find a job.

What I find extremely unethical and ridiculous about this piece is this bit:

“Commenting on the incident that comes amidst attacks on Indian students, Federation of Indian Students in Australia founder Gautam Gupta said that it was an act of desperation.


"It indicated failure of the system. Victorian Premier John Brumby should take personal responsibility for the victim's death," he said.”

Firstly, what is the connection between the supposed racial attacks and this incident? It’s so evident that the Times is just continuing to stir things up and to make it appear that there is some kind of connection. Through a mere statement such as this, they manage to create the impression within India that Indian students are committing suicide because things are so bad in Australia. Have these reporters even come out here to check things? I know one or two have as I saw when I was in Bombay but by talking to just one section of Indians (read: those that live in the ‘Indianised’ areas of Sydney), what hope do they have in getting facts? Why not talk to the other side? To Indians like me. Who love it here. And know we’ve got it good (I know I’m not alone in that!)

Secondly, to this fellow Gautam Gupta: How in the world is John Brumby to blame? Are you telling me that no Indian in India (or anywhere else in the world) has ever committed suicide??? In my 3 weeks in India, the papers had a suicide every single day. Does that mean in the same sense the Indian government “should take personal responsibility” for all those deaths???? And failure in the system --- that never happens in India, does it? India has a perfect system and fights for the rights of everyone including the minorities, doesn’t it?

Suicide is a choice. A bad one, but a choice nonetheless. No one is held responsible apart from the individual themselves (unless it’s assisted suicide). And in this case, for some reason, just not getting a job was enough for this individual to think that the rest of their life was hopeless. I wonder if he heard about the global financial crisis due to which people were losing jobs. It’s a shame he didn’t wait around given that things are going to pick up. Unfortunately, for Indians, psychology is still a developing field. It’s still not common to go and seek therapy and get the help you need if you are depressed because you can apparently “get over it”.

But I digress.

It’s a shame to see what the Times of India has become. I grew up with it and enjoyed reading it even if I disagreed with it re sports. But now, it’s just trashy like every other media outlet. It just aims to sensationalise. Like gossip magazines. It’s a huge fall for something like the Times. They need to take a hard look at themselves and maybe even look at their ethical codes. If they have any. All the newspaper is now, like most gossip mags, is a waste of so many trees.

On that note, I left a comment a few days ago for that article sort of saying some of what I’ve written here, and it has not been approved. I wonder why? (I didn’t use any swear words either)

Until next time,

Cheers!!!