Wednesday, 14 October 2009

Who do you believe?

Penned by Psych Babbler™ at 9:52 PM
Here's something I came across in the media over the last couple of days. And I just had to laugh.

I first came across the Sydney Morning Herald which reported that a recent survey showed Australia as being the safest destination for Indian students over the US and UK. See the story here.

Later in the day while browsing through something else, I came across this article in India Today stating that a recent survey (the same one, mind you) has found Australian cities Sydney and Melbourne to be the most unsafe and unfriendliest cities (seriously, unfriendly?? Where the bloody hell are you?)

So that got me curious and I did some more searching. I found this from OneIndia and this from the ABC website supporting the SMH article.

Which makes me question: Why is India Today reporting what they did?

Make up your own minds...

Until next time,

Cheers!!!



EDITED TO ADD: I found that the Legal Alien too looked at this and did it in a better manner than me. Check out this blog for a more indepth view on this story.
Penned under:

13 penned views:

  1. Because lots of Indian students were being beat up in Australia this year.. case in point:

    http://www.zeenews.com/news537655.html
    http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/may/11/indian-student-robbed-and-beaten-up-in-australia.htm
    ReplyDelete
  2. The india today group is bullshit.See they have a "news channel"-Headlines Today which features nothing but fights between bollywood stars and other useless scoops.I never find their news properly sourced.

    I would say studying in Australia,the US and UK are more safer than studying in India!!
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  3. I guess it depends on where they got their statistics from, and I bet neither are accurate!

    Have you ever seen the West Wing? Great show. Anyway, in one episode some govt department had worked out a new and apparently more accurate way of calculating unemployment - and it resulted in a higher unemployment figure. What was the response of the White House? Change back to the old system!

    My point being that these things are never accurate.
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  4. Indian media only give out news which people WANT to know.

    Hypocrites everywhere. I don't know Australian media but I have seen the hypocrisy everywhere that I have stopped following the opinions of people.
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  5. Wanna know what's unbelievably freaky? Go to my blog!
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  6. @ Miss OverThinker: Welcome! I know that some Indian students were beaten up but that happens in all countries. Including India. However, the point of this post was to question how the results of the same survey were reported differently. Does it mean that India Today chose to report a lie just because some students have been victims of crime? That's just unethical, isn't it?

    @ Matt: Lol about their news. Yeah, I noticed the trashy news channels when I was in India this July with their 'breaking news' lasting for hours on trivial matters.

    @ Sid: I'm actually willing to side with you because the source of the survey was IDP which specialises in Australian education :) Haven't seen West Wing but your example makes me wonder whether our govt here is underestimating unemployment figures...

    @ Aditya: Unfortunately, the Australian media too loves to sensationalise except for SBS and ABC. For instance, the other day some of the other news channels were reporting how ADHD drugs are causing children to attempt suicide when the actual fact was there was one child who attempted suicide and there could have been other factors involved such as depression. It's a sad story and there's very few ethical news reports remaining imho

    @ Legal Alien: OMG! That was bloody freaky! Telepathy! :P I think your's is really well-written and looks at it in a better way... I just thought I would share the links and let people come up with their own views.
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  7. In your reply to Miss Ovethinker the word SOME seems out of space !! did not understand wht fig will qualify as to quote that yes Indians are being thrashed. Apart frm it India seems never to boast as safe destination for students unlike Aussies -- hence its becomes imp to stress 'that Lie'. People die all the time so will it be worth not to worry for those who die in earthquakes or plane crashes?? I hope you see why we Indian point to those thrashing in Aus.

    Coming to your artile topic of some media being unethical ? seriously? you gotta to be kiddin !! Aussie media which is (in)famous worldwide for its kinda biased reporting and its stunts.. i'd better believe Aaj tak, and yes if incase there are exception to like SBS and ABC .. then try comparing them with exception from Indian media. It wouldn't be wise to compare some ABC news to some local or sensatizing news channel frm India.
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  8. Ah the media has a tendency to twist statistics to suit their readership/audience. I've never been a big fan of statistical break downs - - they tend to be skewed in my eyes.
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  9. Many of my friends work in Oz, bu none has come back though recent attacks are disturbing

    You being there can really tell how bad it is
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  10. @ Dagadu: The reason the 'some' was italicised was because if you look at crime stats in general, Indians are few. It's just that the way it is presented in India makes it seem as though Indians are the only ones who are victims of crime. The Indian media too is pretty shitty nowadays...I went there in July and news is more like trashy magazine stuff. The same as here apart from ABC and SBS. Finally, re the 'lie' that you say...well, the survey was completed by Indian students themselves. So why would it be a lie?

    @ Archana: Yeah...I agree...I just found it interesting. But at the end of the day, it's stats based on surveys...

    @ Pesto Sauce: I agree that crime is not to be condoned but like your friends there are Indians here that are perfectly happy with things. And trust me, when you see the crimes everyday, you know that majority are not racially motivated and rather are opportunistic or alcohol-fuelled.
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  11. they have a vested interest. They gain if indian students dont go to australia. australia is a beautiful country. all australians are good. all indians are bad. all indian companies are bad. indians suck.
    Am i on right track PB?
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  12. @ Ani: I didn't say that...and you know that. I know not all Australians are good just as not all Indians are bad...I mean, my parents, sister and some friends are still Indian ;)
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  13. Dunno PB your posts gave me that feeling so i wrote :( i'm sorry
    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your views...I do appreciate them!

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