The mysterious death of Soumya Viswanathan, a TV journalist, has sent out shock waves to all the journalists in the country. Aged 26, this young and vivacious girl was shot dead ruthlessly by unidentified persons at the early hours of Tuesday morning. She was on night shift which ends at 12 midnight, however due to the blasts at Malegaon and Gujarat she stayed back till 3 am. Driving back home for journalists is not something that is out of ordinary. Lives of journalists have always been in danger. According to a report titled, ‘Killing the Messenger’, released on March 7, 2007, 1000 media personnel around the world have been killed while trying to report news over the past 10 years – which comes to about two deaths every week. India also figures in the list of the top twenty one bloodiest countries over the past ten years as far as killing of journalists is concerned. Shooting was by far the greatest cause of death, accounting for almost half of the total. Bombing, stabbing, beating, torture and strangulation were also used to silence reporters and reporting.
Journalism is a field where one needs to be extra cautious and extremely vigilant.. It is regarded as one of the most prestigious professions. This prestige doesn’t come without risks and one has to learn the nuances of swimming upstream. The media is always blamed for blowing things out of proportion and making a mountain out of a molehill. People seldom realize that it is the media’s duty to report the happenings and the media is responsible to give voice to the voiceless. Journalists work hard day in and day out just to give the world the latest happenings and updates of politics, crime, sports and even entertainment. It’s only because of them that one gets to read the newspapers every morning.. Television boomed, and journalism created 24/7 news. When we talk of 24/7 we need to understand that there are people working behind the camera 24/7 to give you news at odd hours. Journalists brave the elements only to bring news at your door step even as people rest in their luxurious homes switching channels for latest news updates.
The ghastly murder of Soumya should now silence some of the critics. The police must gear up to track down and nail the guilty responsible for such a dreadful act. In their relentless pursuit of news, journalists will continue as ever before. As a journalism student myself, I feel it is our duty to salute this young girl whose priorities towards work ranked higher than her personal life. The least we can do for her is to pray God to grant peace to her soul.. I also salute the media whose tenacious struggle is ceaseless.
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3 comments:
This is shocking news that an incident like this happened despite tall claima of increased police patrolling during night hours. The Incident has, once again raised the issue of crime against women and security in the nation capital. I think this is employers' responsibility to provide safe mode of transport for working women keeping late ours. Perhaps it ws a mistake on her part that she did not take possible precautionary measures and this proved to be her undoing.
I beleive,all working women should stick to deadlines imposed by teir parents to ensure their safety.
Sure Shilpa,
Every one is condemning this coward act by some irresponsible criminals. Even the comments made by the respected CM were also not inspiring. But I think it would be incorrect to link this mishap with the profession of Soumya. With full respect to Soumya's job, I would like to add that every human being (including working women) are equally prone to any such incidents. We are all aware of many incidents that have happened in the city when call center professionals were being looted/murdered.
Further, coming to the point you mentioned regarding various channels that are criticized for exaggerating news. I'll give you an example - yesterday there were flashing news in most of the so-called leading-news-channels - "Amitabh bachhan ke pet main dard".
NO offence intended
:)
Thanks,
Abhishek
Hey neetu i don't agree with your last line which says "women should stick to deadlines imposted by their parents to ensure their safetly" because if this is to be made true then what about those thousands of women who work in BPO's or even the media which works 24/7.
In the age of 21st century women are equal to men. So we can't get away with an excuse of time. Yes, i do agree that the organisation must take up full responsibility of women working late at nights and ensure that they reach home safe.
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