No excuses, no nitpicking. The entire media got the ‘Sarabjit to be released’ story wrong — including The Hindu, in its early editions before we stopped press at midnight to make the correction. If anything, the Sarabjit/Surjeet Singh mix-up has held a mirror to the beast that the media has become: easily excitable, know-it-all and supremely confident to the extent of being tone deaf even when Pakistan’s Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar was clearly saying on Indian television channels — and by extension to the tuned-in print media — that “Surjeet Singh” was entitled to be released. The media stands exposed but still does not have the grace to admit it was wrong, let alone introspect or apologise for giving false hope to the family of a condemned man. Worse, a section of the media has topped it all up with theories galore on why Islamabad made the “midnight switch”. Ironically, because of the nature of the story and how it unfolded, Sarabjit’s family at least got to air its disappointment. But what of all those mistakes that are being made by the media in the rush to be first with the news? The insensitive line of questioning to bring out raw emotion on camera, the crowding around rescue operations for a “quote”, or ruining investigations by breezing into crime scenes? In this particular case, there is the fig leaf of an excuse in the two names sounding similar but the media was clearly not listening and kept repeating ‘Sarabjit’ so often that on at least one TV show, Mr. Babar himself got confused and used that name for the man he had referred to only seconds earlier as ‘Surjeet.’
In the India-Pakistan context, the role of the media on both sides has been particularly dubious; leading the pack in baying for blood at the smallest of irritants even while talking Track-II, overly obsessing with certain issues, and allowing emotions and rhetoric to determine the narrative instead of informed discourse. To be fair to both governments, the Foreign Offices in recent months have been restrained in the face of provocation from the media. If Islamabad was at pains to explain to the local media that granting ‘Most Favoured Nation’ status to India was not equivalent to making it Pakistan’s ‘Most Favourite Nation’, officials of the Ministry of External Affairs sought to drive home the fact that both Kashmir and the Mumbai terror attacks got equal play in the last round of Foreign Secretary-level talks. Both governments have been trying to create space for each other to navigate the slippery route to peaceful co-existence and cooperation, made all the more treacherous by the media which has allowed shrill voices to flourish to the detriment of sane and studied opinion. Mercifully, the media-created fiasco that made the Pakistan government — already under siege for other reasons — look bad did not stall Surjeet Singh’s release. His return should now set the stage for the repatriation of all Indian and Pakistani prisoners who remain incarcerated across the border despite completing their sentences.
Keywords: Sarabjit Singh, Surjeet Singh, Sarabjit-Surjeet mix-up, media, India, Pakistan
After spending 31 long years in prison,Surjeet eventually returned
home thanks to unrelenting efforts of our officials and the
magnanimity of Pakistan officials.His happy reunion with his kith and
kin is a feather in the cap our army officials too.The mix up between
Surjeet and Sarabjit,another Indian languishing in a Pak jail was
unfortunate.It is still unclear whether the Faux pa originated in
Pakistan or created by the media on both sides of the
border.Attributing intentions to anybody in this regard is unfair and
uncalled for.The need of the hour is to keep up the spirited efforts
to secure the safe release of Sarabjit.
What an excellent piece, takes a lot of courage and objectivity to write
such an article. I hope the rest of the media can also share such
impartiality because the media is the only source of information to most
of the people of these 2 countries.
N from Pakistan
A very good and true article about the media.........
Hats off 'The Hindu'! Professionalism on the fore. Responsible reporting. The prime work of the 'fourth pillar of democracy' should always be to serve the truth to the masses. What most news channels indulge in doing these days is to serve what people 'enjoy' and not what they 'deserve'. Thats sad.
As for the issue raised, there's this recent development that Mr. Surjit has declared before our highly responsible media (try not to miss the heavy sarcasm here) that he indeed WAS an Indian secret agent! I am not a pessimist of sorts but doesn't this put a serious obsatcle towards the release of Sarabjit and many other POWs (and non POWs) who have spent the better half of their lives in a hostile country's jails? Very sad this is
What is in a name " yes as mentioned in the editorial it is just
missed or saved a life.Here it has saved one.But the readers should be interested to know that in Julius caesar it has not saved cinna the poet.Actually it was one of the names of
conspirators who murdered caesar brutally.The following text
explains what happened in the streets of Rome due to his name.
TEXT
CINNA THE POET
Truly, my name is Cinna.
First Citizen
Tear him to pieces; he's a conspirator.
CINNA THE POET
I am Cinna the poet, I am Cinna the poet.
Fourth Citizen
Tear him for his bad verses, tear him for his bad verses.
CINNA THE POET
I am not Cinna the conspirator.
Fourth Citizen
It is no matter, his name's Cinna; pluck but his
name out of his heart, and turn him going. (Act3 scene 3)
yes this was happened to the poet.
Your comprehensive broadside against the media has come at a time not later than desired.Media,particularly the electronic one these days swerve from the path of journalalistic ethos, norms and morality.They maintain no discilpline in news gathering if,the spectacles our news channels beam is any indication.Mr.Babar would have been a victim of chaos and confusion the media has created.He might have answered in the affirmative a query when the media men repeatedly uttered the name Sarabjit that resulted in the erroneous reporting and all the consequences that ensued.However,it would have been a painful experience for the family of Sarabjit Singh.The pangs when one's hope turns false must be experienced to evaluate.In the name of 'breaking news' and in the anxiety to hog the limelight,the media is pulverising their own credibilty.It is heartening that 'The Hind' has frankly admitted the error some of the early editions of the paper carried.Your admirable gesture burgeons our respect to you.
Thanks The Hindu, I very much appreciate this editorial which has self-critical remarks too.
@SARANATHAN, for your kind information, Ansari was arrested 10 months
ago in Saudi arab, how can you relate him to this episode?
Congratulations to The Hindu for standing up and gracefully admitting
that the media is not always right! Thank you very much for drawing
attention to the issues created by the reckless quest for 'sensations'
by the media. The Hindu has become a shrine for sane, rational people
in India, who want just the news and not shocks or sensation.
I remember making a comment about an article ,ridiculing THE HINDU for
mere 'reporting' .... But still ,I never stopped reading this
newspaper for pieces like this ...Masterclass - Journalism at its best
!!
It takes lot of grit to give the right news in the right way !!!
Kudos to your team ,on keeping up the ethics of reporting and
Journalism!!
very clearly put forward..expect this from the hindu but the problem lies with the ones that never care for correctness of reporting and apology for mistakes..It would be beneficial for the readers if the hindu publishes something comprehensive on current status of controls and checks on electronic and print media which is getting transformed into a monster.
The issue is not of committing a mistake, it is of attempting a cover up and in so doing finding a scape goat! The Hindu once again lives upto its image, which is assiduously built over decades and which is protected by generation after generation of the founders. The media activism has assumed such monstrous proportions that sometimes one is left to wonder whether all this is truly in the best interest of our society!
Nice Editorial. hats off to the hindu for a commendable job. One one side, we have flashy ads, conspiracy, gossips and page 3. The other side we have the truth, 'The Hindu'!
Yesterday's 'Prajavani' a respected Kannada daily proclaimed to the world that Surjeeth's release instead of Sarabjeeth was the result of interference by the Pakistani army.Then what about others.I am glad that the likes of Lalith Ambardar in a hopeless minority.
By accepting the mistake and publishing the article on its own site/newspaper,The Hindu is reflecting signs of unbiased media. Kudos!
A very courageous post, especially as an Editorial, that accepts the mistake made and provides true perspectives on what the media is turning to! It is time for mainstream media to do some serious introspection.
A well-written article I must say. Deeply impressed by the author's professionalism and his sincerity to the field of journalism. Many other newspapers (which I would not like to name, but are obvious) report stories only to spice things up. The India-Pakistan semifinal match buildup is an example of this. Sarbajit Singh was proved having links in the 1990 bomb blasts in Multan and Lahore. As I believe India would not let go of Ajmal Kasab for his alleged involvement in the Mumbai Attacks,why should Pakistan release Sarbajit? The media should act responsibly while speaking in his favor. Releasing him on humanitarian grounds while he killed 14 people is a joke. Isn't it?
The Hindu should try to start printing its first edition after 01 am or so in all its centers . May be , for that it needs to have some more printing centers missing in south and also in Northern India in cities like Bhopal , Nagpur , Agra etc - say after every 200 to 250 kms - so that the copies collected after 2.0 am can be transported by trains / buses / taxi etc as the case may be . That is how all over north also , THE HINDU copies can be made available on the same morning . The sooner The Hindu takes steps in that direction , the better it is to boost its readership . In western India , where a lot of ' Hindu ' readers can be found , they have stopped already to buy print copies and depend only on hindu web site since the copies are available in Western India after more than 24/36/48 hrs only . In the mean time Hindu should try to carry all late night results of Wimbledon , London olympics etc even in the delayed first editions in all centers .
On the one hand a media house runs a superfluous campaign called 'Aman Ki Asha' and on the other hand it is says 'After flip-flop, Pak frees Surjeet Singh' by not paying proper attention to get the facts right . Good editorial. Hope all the editors get to read this article.
Pardon my cliche, but nothing else is apt: The Hindu is the only sane voice amid the cacophony called 'media'. The media has become really 'mass'. How we wish there were more publications like The Hindu! It is not just for academic interest or thought-shaping (as most people think), there is much more at stake here. The media incites passions and polarizes the public just like the bigoted religious fanatics do.
the overactive media has stared poking its nose on all the issues & influencing the outcome based on its own interest.this trend is fallowed with more sensationalism by regional channels.i hope the media to be more responsible.
The courage to admit error is the bedrock of wisdom. Three cheers for the Hindu, now as often 'the voice of one crying in the wilderness'.
First, I must confess that if I have not read this news, I was not even aware that this whole mix up got created because of media. Time and again, electronic media is proving that how irresponsible it is. It cares nothing but TRP. Media is very important tool of democracy. It can influence the people's perception and decisions in a big way. Media should shed the herd mentality and stop running the parallel judgement of all the issue.
Nice article! Media rarely apologise or admit the mistakes they commit, worse, on top of that they create another goof up to divert the attention. Seems like media (visual in particular) have lost the credibility. Loaded with the burden to create news 24 X 7, every silly issue become news now. Disgusting! Its real torture to watch 24 X 7 channels.
Very well written! This chastisement of the media was long overdue. In
addition to the points mentioned -- media does not put probing questions
to the ruling family, does not follow-up or generate public opinion on
national scams and issues. When was the last time we heard of the
Spectrum scam? It is already forgotten! Often, media makes or ruins
political careers. Of course most in the India media are more watchful
of the third-rate movies and antics of film-stars.
It is not the job of the media to promote peace or to promote war. They should focus on reporting. Since, journalists are people, they have opinions too. However, it is the job of the editors to ensure that journalists clearly separate news and opinion in their reporting. The real problem today the abdication of quality control by editors and their failure to keep news reporting factual and balanced.
It's a classic case of taking 'aman ki asha too far'.The editorial
fails to cite even a single reconciliatory move of Pakistan in support of the claim that Pakistan is also "trying to create space... to navigate the slippery route to peaceful co-existence and cooperation,..." .If at all, Pakistan misses no opportunity to humiliate India even on the matters related to Pak origin India specific Jihadi terror.It is only the Indian state bending backwards even at the cost of national interest to placate the incorrigibly hostile neighbour pursuing its avowed doctrine to inflict a thousand cuts on India over a thousand years holy war.It smacks of intellectual naivety to see optimism in Kashmir Jihad that at its advent in 1989-90 saw India's only ethnic cleansing i.e of aboriginal Kashmiri Pandits >followed by scores of terror attacks across India including the 26/11 Mumbai massacre symptomatic of Pak's continued compulsive anti India
agenda.
This episode of media is not new.I remembered the world cup semifinal
cricket match between India and Pakistan ,and our medias were showing
videos of LOC or from the movie border.Creating such kind of nerve is
completely nonsense and an immature response.
So truthful and an eyeopener article for media.Worst thing is the condemning tone of media for each and every action of Pakistan.Will negative statements over the release of Surjeet Singh instead of Sarabjeet do any good for the future of relations or maybe some further releases ? worst is the game media is playing with the emotions of families of both prisoners. Let the government and foreign services do their work with their full minds on issues.
I think if Ansari was not arrested earlier, this would not have happened!
What a commendable job The Hindu is doing !!! While other news papers and news channels are trying to make up conspiracy theories to hide their mistakes, The Hindu came up with truth. Very good article.
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