Tarun Gogoi denies having pressured TV channel to sack Atanu Bhuyan
Atanu Bhuyan, Editor-in-Chief of television channel News Live, which telecast the July 9 molestation incident here, resigned on Monday.
But he was apprehensive that a probe into the charge that the journalist of the channel, Gaurab Jyoti Neog, instigated the incident might not be impartial, as Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had remarked that the journalist was duty-bound to inform the police, but he did not.
“I apprehend that the probe will not be impartial and may be influenced by the Chief Minister’s comments. Gaurab was interrogated for four hours by the police yesterday [Monday] before he was allowed to go following the comments… by the Chief Minister,” Mr. Bhuyan said at a press conference here.
Denying the charge, the Chief Minister told journalists that he had never spoken to the management of any media outlet, let alone mount pressure on News Live. Even if there was any pressure on him, Mr. Bhuyan should have faced it as it behoved a journalist.
The Chief Minister reiterated that the journalist had the responsibility to inform the police, though he maintained that the video helped the police in arresting the culprits.
Mr. Bhuyan defended Mr. Neog and the cameraman for having shot the incident, arguing that they had only done their duty as journalists. The cameraman took close-up shots of the molesters and that helped the police arrest them.
Mr. Bhuyan said he decided to resign because he was apprehensive of pressure on the channel management to remove him. He is one of the five members on the Board of Directors, headed by Chairman and Managing Director Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, who is the wife of Health and Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Earlier, Mr. Neog resigned after Team Anna member and Right to Information activist Akhil Gogoi charged him with instigating the molestation. Mr Neog alleged a conspiracy against him.
Mr. Bhuyan said Mr. Neog had denied the charge that he was a close friend of the key accused, Amarjyoti Kalita, who is still at large.
The police have so far arrested 12 molesters.
Mr. Bhuyan said he had uploaded the edited footage, which was telecast by News Live, on his YouTube account, and it was picked up by various channels.
But he admitted that the shot in which the journalist asked the name of the victim ought not to have been telecast by the channel.
Mr. Akhil Gogoi termed Mr. Bhuyan’s resignation “a victory for the people of Assam.” He reiterated his charge that the incident was orchestrated by Mr. Neog and Amarjyoti Kalita and demanded that both be arrested immediately.
Mr. Bhuyan said Mr. Neog had denied knowing Kalita and the call records of both could be checked to verify his claim. If forensic examinations and the probe revealed Mr. Neog’s complicity, he should be punished.
But Mr. Akhil Gogoi said he did not have faith in the forensic test. If any anomaly was found in the examination of the raw footage, his organisation, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, would get it examined by an independent agency.
Keywords: Guwahati molestation case, media ethics, Tarun Gogoi, TV Channel editor, Editor-in-Chief resignation
Telecasting or not was a decision of the Channel's Editor. Not that of the journalist reporter who captured the evidence. Of course, the reporter failed to call the Police immediately. That is a different error. A lot of bystanders also made the same error. The Channel's error in using the footage for increasing viewership is morally wrong and worthy of reproach. The Broadcasters Association should now speak out. It is clear that Editors control publishing and not the reporters and writers. Recently a journalist following the Jay Palmer case stated publicly in an online forum (itbusinessedge) that the story he wrote up after talking with the solicitor Mendelsohn in the USA on this case was killed by the editor after a call from a PR firm. It shows that the editor has the final control, not the journalist. So the editors are responsible and they make the call !
No sane person would support the journalist if he/she saw the video !!
Towards the end, that is after the police arrived, the journalist, instead of consoling the girl who was surrounded by her molesters, police & rescuers, he tried to interview the girl by putting a bright camera light on her face and a mike before her.
Is news & sensation more important than empathy for a fellow human ?
Some one in this forum said, a few got arrested only because of this video. If saving the girl was really his intention, why didn't he zoom the video into the molesters faces ? They were very present even after the police arrived.
The man who tried to rescue the girl had blood stains on his shirt..how come there were no physical injuries on the journalist's body if he too tried to rescue the girl ?
It is a good thing it was filmed. It is the only reason the govt is taking some action. It is the only reason there a good outcry all over India. however, they should have respected the girls privacy and should have blurred her face. On a different note, if the reporter is the one who has instigated the mob(goons) then he needs to be punished as well. However, police and the lousy govt need to prioritize in finding the culprits first and give them severe punishment to set an example.
@Rajeev, it is important to telecast as the Law enforcement authorities and politicians are highly corrupt in India and no action will be taken. There is no way ordinary people can educate criminals and corrupt ones. This is the best option.
How come the footage came on youtube and why did it come on TV? Are
journalists really responsible for the welfare of the society or they
are just interested in TRP rating.
resigns? why? if guilty, should be arrested.
Dear Readers who posted comments, Telecast about that gal is INHUMAN. The moral responsibilty of any citizen is to report to POLICE first. Wether they react or not is secondary. Who gave permission to telecast if some one os molested? Do you agree if it happens to any one of our family members? Its easy to comment but post a comment with your heart.
Yes ..there could be an endless debate on what journalist did at that time and what could have been done. One can say he could have called police but see on the other hand he have collected the main evidence of an ongoing crime, which makes this case transparent, now there cant be countless hearings, dates and changing of statements about this case because this case is as clear as water.Now instead of playing this blame game Govt should end this case by paying justice to the girl as soon as possible.
The truth is, that without the TV footage, the perpetrators of this dreadful crime would not have been apprehended and would have got off scot free. While they played to the camera to some extent, it is unlikely that they would have been any less violent in its absence. These men need to be made an example of and given the harshest sentence possible in order to make this case a deterrent to any other animals that have something similar in mind.
I don't think that we can blame that poor journalist for not informing it to the police. perhaps he could have informed...we should not forget that because of his footage we are able to identify those fanatics...its perplexing that we are finding fault only with the journalist but not the culprits or the people around that place for the same reason- not informing the police.
Many indian men are frustrated and depraved. Their behavior is noticeable in india and abroad.
And why do the poor indian women have to get on to the streets in order to get some justice. They have enough sufferings as it is with finance and a poor quality of life.
We have useless and heartless politicians.
If the people do not get on to the streets and demand for justice our Indians politicians are not in the least bothered. What has gone wrong with India. We seem to be in an era were we have no more reliable decent leaders in India?
What if the gal is daughter of this Journalist? Will he react the same way? What if she is daughter of Editor in chief? What if daughter of DIG of Police? What if she is daughter of CM of Assma? The reactions are different, that is India. If its called LAW is different for different class of people in India. We have bad journalism taught in Schools. Unless Women organizations comes onto ROAD, no justice will be done. Is it the way Indian mothers teach their sons at home? We have to blam our seleves first before blame LAW and Society at LARGE. Secondly, STATE has no meaning in India.
There have been serious violations of a woman's privacy rights -
a) Who is responsible for uploading the footage on Youtube, with her
face revealed?
b) Why Ms. Alka Lamba is not being held accountable for disclosing the
victim's identity?
Secondly, politicizing the matter would only make it worse. All
political parties should take a united stand to ensure that justice is
done. Unbiased investigation must be carried out to prove/disprove Mr.
Gaurav Jyoti Neog's complicity in the incident.
People in the media who are lecherous and want to outrage the modesty of women must be stringently punished and a few examples need to be made out of them so that it acts as a deterrent to other lustful and TRP crazy reporters especially in the electronic media.
What does the girl say? Did she say that the journalist instigated the mob? If so, then action should be taken against the journalist. If not, he should be rapped on the knuckles for not reporting to police from his cell phone when the incident was happening. He could simultaneously have recorded the proceedings in his camera while talking to the police......
now media hype is playing greater role in our life.mediamen along with camera is just wandering for some news, whethere good or bad to increase their popularity and TRP ratings. that is the reason for this issue mainly. it should not be allowed to grow further.
Even though the Journalist should have tried fighting the mod he did a greater thing by shooting the entire episode which is & most valuable evidence. So, in a way he did a good thing.
@Ram:
There is not a single reporter in the country without a mobile phone.
Reporters are the first beings in India who have have access to high dignitaries' phone numbers after the politicians and the civil
administrators. It is useless to say that he could have informed the
police and even the higher authorities showing his journalistic
credentials. If he did not do so, it is only because of the greed of
fame and for the sake of promotion of himself and the channel.
What is the duty of a reporter ? to report an incident so that it can be shown to the world .
He did a job which can be accused by many on moral grounds .Such is the nature of the job .
having fought them he couldn't have collected the evidences . Now five of them are in jail .
Mr. bhuyan lost his job because of the molestation of a drunk 16 year old girl. What kind of people are these? I am referring to the mob, police, the girl and other witnesses.
This incident has exposed all: inept police, incompetent NCW and absolutely irresponsible media. Where was the need for TV channels across the country to play the footage over and over again? And how exactly did that help the victim? In fact, editors of all such TV channels must be fired immediately.
It is highly shameful that something like this has happened but the worst part is that these days newspapers are full of such disgraceful acts against women. The need is to have strict punishment for such cases. In most cases culprits move scot free, hence women have become more vulnerable.
Since we have enough evidence all the culprits must be punished here and we have to set a example also that our system is not weak or just not driven by set of fools. I think ending of this case in proper manner would strengthen a woman faith towards the society and govt and they will also feel more safe and secured.
What a wrong way they do? If the girl is their relatives what they may feel? They should be punished in public.
Media has to undoubtely show what is happening in the country whether right or wrong. But doesn't media itself have any moral responsibility towards society.Being a media person does not mean that even when something wrong is happening you will just shoot it and will not try to prevent such instances or inform police at the very least.This shows that just to make their channel show some hot breaking news the reporter would just go to any lenghts and not even try to stop such incidents happening even out of humanity.
i pity the girl and want the guilty be punished severly in public so
that it could be a warning to others.Also the families of the guilty
should be identified in public as if a warning to parents so they could
control their wards.penalty should be imposed on them and the money thus
collected may be given to the girl as compensation.
the reporter took the action that had the greatest impact. he could not have fought the mob. he could have rushed to the nearby police station but that would have taken time. its only because of his actions that we are able to get to the culprits
The footage should not have been aired in the first place.
Its just not ethical journalism.
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