While the nation is hooked on cricket and gripped with World Cup fever, there are dreadful tragedies unfolding that we know little about. The horrific deaths of scores of children from encephalitis in Bihar haven’t received the kind of coverage or scrutiny that they should. So TV journalist Anjana Om Kashyap decided to cover this story. However, it wasn’t the kind of courageous journalism that we expected.
This video featuring Aaj Tak journalist Anjana Om Kashyap inside the hospital ICU has gone viral.
She is seen haranguing and heckling a clearly overworked doctor and then a nurse; demanding to know why there are better facilities not available. The viral video has provoked angry reactions; with people asking why this ‘journalist’ is going after powerless cogs in a wheel rather than those in positions of power.
There has been a sharp backlash against the hostile reportage of Kashyap and her crew. People have expressed anger at the fact that she and her camera crew have barged into the Intensive Care Unit with little regard of contamination. Clearly, this compromises recovery of the very children she claims to care about.
Commentators have also expressed their anger at the sort of yellow journalism that picks on easy targets rather than speak truth to power.
Here she demands answers from those doing their best in a difficult situation. She abdicates her responsibility to question those who are actually responsible for the creation of healthcare policies and budget allocations.
Other journalists have called out Kashyap’s style of reporting and have pointed out the dereliction of journalistic objectivity and even simple decency.
There is a strong perception that people in positions of power; with the ability to actually make a difference are unconcerned with the situation. There is the feeling that their attention is on extraneous matters rather than those that really impact people and their wellbeing.
Problems range from shortage of doctors and other staff to inadequacy of medicines to poor facilities. Many feel that a journalist attacking harried professionals trying to do their best in the midst of such as situation deserves to be legally prosecuted.
Some of the Tweeple shared a list of IPC sections under which Kashyap and her team could be booked.
Many of our doctors are no less than heroes – they make the best of inadequate facilities and medical supplies, they find solutions where none seem to exist.
Insufficient seats in medical colleges, short-staffing of hospitals, poor conditions, being overworked… these are issues that need addressing.
Some commentators shared this video clip of the PM of the UK being asked to leave presumably because of the risk of contamination. The contrast between a leader being respectful of hospital protocols and a self-important journalist intimidating hardworking professionals couldn’t be sharper!
On the one hand is a famous journalist attacking short-handed professionals; on the other are lesser known ones asking the right questions to the right people – juxtaposing the wrong and the right way to do journalism.
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