Firstpost Life The Talwars and Tehelka: Both cases of media excess? by Lakshmi Chaudhry Nov 25, 2013 #Aarushi Murder Case #Media #MediaWatch
#Shoma Chaudhury #Tarun Tejpal #Tehelka #ToWhatEffect inShare 93 CommentsEmailPrint “On 25th, the Aarushi Talwar verdict is going to come
out. The media has done so much harm to the Talwars by coming to this presumptuous, premature judgement. If you assume this is rape. And I’m
amazed that a man of Arun Jaitley’s stature and legal standing should assume rape before something has been investigated,” said an angry Shoma
Chaudhury during one of the many odd moments in her CNN-IBN interview. Minutes later, she evoked the Talwars again to underline the presumption
of innocence, “You have not allowed me to say what was done to the Talwars. I think some of that is happening again. It is not to put myself on some
high ground.” PTI/Reuters PTI/Reuters The inappropriateness of such a comparison aside, it marked one of the many ways in which the Aarushi-
Hemraj murders have become entrenched in popular imagination and discourse, and become a kind of cultural short-hand for media excess. Each
time a sensational crime hits the headlines, the Indian media head right down the proverbial slippery slope, sliding from rightful outrage to prurient
excess in a matter of headlines. As Rajdeep Sardesai noted during an IBN-live chat, The Aarushi case is one where both the print and the TV media
have much to answer for. Let me also be honest: the Aarushi Talwar murder case was a great news story and a great TV story. A father was accused
of murdering his daughter, so naturally the media was excited. Where we failed was to understand that the bigger the story, the greater the need to
exercise restraint. But in practice, the other principle holds true: Bigger the story, weaker the self-restraint. Sobriety goes right out of the window in
the heat of a feeding frenzy, when any detail, however trivial or unsubstantiated, can be held up as a ‘scoop.’ In the case of the Talwars, the media
went one step further by treating the trial as “a mere formality, perhaps even a waste of time,” as noted by Shohini Ghosh in a Hindu op-ed which
argued “The presumption of innocence till guilt is proven is a cardinal principle of criminal justice. Those who genuinely want justice for Aarushi
and Hemraj should insist on a fair trial as well as ethical standards from the media.” The flip side, of course, is that the media lynching of the
Talwars also now offers a facile accusation to lob at news anchors. While the reporting on the Tehelka case is showing signs of devolving into
voyeurism (more on that later), the news organizations cannot be blamed for either a) basing their reporting on what is publicly available, which is
the alleged victim’s testimony; or b) giving the benefit of doubt to the alleged victim, much as Chaudhury herself claims to have done. But for better
or worse, the Talwars have now become a magic mantra to be invoked by all those claiming to be the victims of media propaganda. That said, there
is one very real parallel between the Talwars trial and the Tehelka scandal: the violation of the victim. In both cases, moral outrage became an excuse
for the egregious and shameful exploitation of the victim’s personal life. In the case of Tehelka, graphic details of the alleged assault taken from a
private email were circulated online and even published, all in the name of calling Tarun Tejpal to justice. Arushi’s correspondence with her friends
also became fodder for news coverage, but in her case, the media reached an all-time low in their rush to prove unsubstantiated allegations of an
‘affair’ with Hemraj, as Ghosh writes: This narrative was first floated by Inspector General of Police (Meerut) Gurudarshan Singh, who had ‘solved’ the
case even before investigations could begin. In a widely publicised press conference he declared that Rajesh, who was as “characterless as his
daughter” had committed the murders after discovering Aarushi and Hemraj in “an objectionable but not compromising position”. Singh was
transferred for his defamatory utterances but his ‘story’ gathered momentum across the media. On May 25, 2008, Zee News telecast a show called
Crime File where anchor Manoj Raghuvanshi doubling as mind-reader authoritatively claimed that Aarushi had sought comfort in an affair with
Hemraj because her father was having an extra-marital affair. Given this sorry state of affairs, it is perhaps a mercy that no CCTV footage available of
the alleged assault in Goa, as it would be inevitably leaked and circulated in the guise of moral indignation. Shoma Chaudhury may have had no
luck wielding the Talwar analogy, but their trial will long be remembered as a shameful chapter in Indian media history. “A botched-up investigation,
flip-flop by witnesses and forensic labs, and a voracious and often irresponsible media have ensured that doubts will persist on whether justice has
finally been done, no matter what the verdict on November 25 is,” writes Uttam Sengupta in Outlook. There are no such doubts, however, about the
guilt of we the media. That verdict is already in. ALSO SEE Tehelka LIVE: Goa court sends Tejpal to 6-day police custody Tehelka LIVE: Goa court
sends Tejpal to 6-day police custody Watch: All the twists and turns of the Aarushi murder trial Watch: All the twists and turns of the Aarushi murder
trial Aarushi case live: Rajesh, Nupur Talwar get life imprisonment Aarushi case live: Rajesh, Nupur Talwar get life imprisonment RELATED VIDEOS
Tehelka scandal: Tejpal case should be fast-tracked, says Parrikar Watch: Sir Martin Sorrell talks all things India... and Twitter IPO Bookmyshow
unveils new brand identity, rolls out new TVC More from the web When Good People Do Bad Things International New York Times S Korean
actresses convicted of propofol abuse Channel NewsAsia Indian couple given life in jail over daughter's murder Channel NewsAsia 10 High Calorie
Foods You Should Never Eat Before Going To Bed Healthier Foods New Delhi hotel's most important marketing mechanism TripAdvisor More from
Firstpost Police probe into Tehelka case: Shoma does a U-turn India
Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/living/the-talwars-and-tehelka-both-cases-of-media-excess-1248469.html?utm_source=ref_article
#Shoma Chaudhury #Tarun Tejpal #Tehelka #ToWhatEffect inShare 93 CommentsEmailPrint “On 25th, the Aarushi Talwar verdict is going to come
out. The media has done so much harm to the Talwars by coming to this presumptuous, premature judgement. If you assume this is rape. And I’m
amazed that a man of Arun Jaitley’s stature and legal standing should assume rape before something has been investigated,” said an angry Shoma
Chaudhury during one of the many odd moments in her CNN-IBN interview. Minutes later, she evoked the Talwars again to underline the presumption
of innocence, “You have not allowed me to say what was done to the Talwars. I think some of that is happening again. It is not to put myself on some
high ground.” PTI/Reuters PTI/Reuters The inappropriateness of such a comparison aside, it marked one of the many ways in which the Aarushi-
Hemraj murders have become entrenched in popular imagination and discourse, and become a kind of cultural short-hand for media excess. Each
time a sensational crime hits the headlines, the Indian media head right down the proverbial slippery slope, sliding from rightful outrage to prurient
excess in a matter of headlines. As Rajdeep Sardesai noted during an IBN-live chat, The Aarushi case is one where both the print and the TV media
have much to answer for. Let me also be honest: the Aarushi Talwar murder case was a great news story and a great TV story. A father was accused
of murdering his daughter, so naturally the media was excited. Where we failed was to understand that the bigger the story, the greater the need to
exercise restraint. But in practice, the other principle holds true: Bigger the story, weaker the self-restraint. Sobriety goes right out of the window in
the heat of a feeding frenzy, when any detail, however trivial or unsubstantiated, can be held up as a ‘scoop.’ In the case of the Talwars, the media
went one step further by treating the trial as “a mere formality, perhaps even a waste of time,” as noted by Shohini Ghosh in a Hindu op-ed which
argued “The presumption of innocence till guilt is proven is a cardinal principle of criminal justice. Those who genuinely want justice for Aarushi
and Hemraj should insist on a fair trial as well as ethical standards from the media.” The flip side, of course, is that the media lynching of the
Talwars also now offers a facile accusation to lob at news anchors. While the reporting on the Tehelka case is showing signs of devolving into
voyeurism (more on that later), the news organizations cannot be blamed for either a) basing their reporting on what is publicly available, which is
the alleged victim’s testimony; or b) giving the benefit of doubt to the alleged victim, much as Chaudhury herself claims to have done. But for better
or worse, the Talwars have now become a magic mantra to be invoked by all those claiming to be the victims of media propaganda. That said, there
is one very real parallel between the Talwars trial and the Tehelka scandal: the violation of the victim. In both cases, moral outrage became an excuse
for the egregious and shameful exploitation of the victim’s personal life. In the case of Tehelka, graphic details of the alleged assault taken from a
private email were circulated online and even published, all in the name of calling Tarun Tejpal to justice. Arushi’s correspondence with her friends
also became fodder for news coverage, but in her case, the media reached an all-time low in their rush to prove unsubstantiated allegations of an
‘affair’ with Hemraj, as Ghosh writes: This narrative was first floated by Inspector General of Police (Meerut) Gurudarshan Singh, who had ‘solved’ the
case even before investigations could begin. In a widely publicised press conference he declared that Rajesh, who was as “characterless as his
daughter” had committed the murders after discovering Aarushi and Hemraj in “an objectionable but not compromising position”. Singh was
transferred for his defamatory utterances but his ‘story’ gathered momentum across the media. On May 25, 2008, Zee News telecast a show called
Crime File where anchor Manoj Raghuvanshi doubling as mind-reader authoritatively claimed that Aarushi had sought comfort in an affair with
Hemraj because her father was having an extra-marital affair. Given this sorry state of affairs, it is perhaps a mercy that no CCTV footage available of
the alleged assault in Goa, as it would be inevitably leaked and circulated in the guise of moral indignation. Shoma Chaudhury may have had no
luck wielding the Talwar analogy, but their trial will long be remembered as a shameful chapter in Indian media history. “A botched-up investigation,
flip-flop by witnesses and forensic labs, and a voracious and often irresponsible media have ensured that doubts will persist on whether justice has
finally been done, no matter what the verdict on November 25 is,” writes Uttam Sengupta in Outlook. There are no such doubts, however, about the
guilt of we the media. That verdict is already in. ALSO SEE Tehelka LIVE: Goa court sends Tejpal to 6-day police custody Tehelka LIVE: Goa court
sends Tejpal to 6-day police custody Watch: All the twists and turns of the Aarushi murder trial Watch: All the twists and turns of the Aarushi murder
trial Aarushi case live: Rajesh, Nupur Talwar get life imprisonment Aarushi case live: Rajesh, Nupur Talwar get life imprisonment RELATED VIDEOS
Tehelka scandal: Tejpal case should be fast-tracked, says Parrikar Watch: Sir Martin Sorrell talks all things India... and Twitter IPO Bookmyshow
unveils new brand identity, rolls out new TVC More from the web When Good People Do Bad Things International New York Times S Korean
actresses convicted of propofol abuse Channel NewsAsia Indian couple given life in jail over daughter's murder Channel NewsAsia 10 High Calorie
Foods You Should Never Eat Before Going To Bed Healthier Foods New Delhi hotel's most important marketing mechanism TripAdvisor More from
Firstpost Police probe into Tehelka case: Shoma does a U-turn India
Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/living/the-talwars-and-tehelka-both-cases-of-media-excess-1248469.html?utm_source=ref_article
Firstpost
Life
The Talwars and Tehelka: Both cases of media excess?
by Lakshmi Chaudhry Nov 25, 2013
#Aarushi Murder Case #Media #MediaWatch #Shoma Chaudhury #Tarun Tejpal
#Tehelka #ToWhatEffect
inShare
93 CommentsEmailPrint
“On 25th, the Aarushi Talwar verdict is going to come out. The media has
done so much harm to the Talwars by coming to this presumptuous,
premature judgement. If you assume this is rape. And I’m amazed that a
man of Arun Jaitley’s stature and legal standing should assume rape
before something has been investigated,” said an angry Shoma Chaudhury
during one of the many odd moments in her CNN-IBN interview.
Minutes later, she evoked the Talwars again to underline the presumption
of innocence, “You have not allowed me to say what was done to the
Talwars. I think some of that is happening again. It is not to put
myself on some high ground.”
PTI/Reuters
PTI/Reuters
The inappropriateness of such a comparison aside, it marked one of the
many ways in which the Aarushi-Hemraj murders have become entrenched in
popular imagination and discourse, and become a kind of cultural
short-hand for media excess.
Each time a sensational crime hits the headlines, the Indian media head
right down the proverbial slippery slope, sliding from rightful outrage
to prurient excess in a matter of headlines. As Rajdeep Sardesai noted
during an IBN-live chat,
The Aarushi case is one where both the print and the TV media have much
to answer for. Let me also be honest: the Aarushi Talwar murder case was
a great news story and a great TV story. A father was accused of
murdering his daughter, so naturally the media was excited. Where we
failed was to understand that the bigger the story, the greater the need
to exercise restraint.
But in practice, the other principle holds true: Bigger the story,
weaker the self-restraint.
Sobriety goes right out of the window in the heat of a feeding frenzy,
when any detail, however trivial or unsubstantiated, can be held up as a
‘scoop.’ In the case of the Talwars, the media went one step further by
treating the trial as “a mere formality, perhaps even a waste of time,”
as noted by Shohini Ghosh in a Hindu op-ed which argued “The
presumption of innocence till guilt is proven is a cardinal principle of
criminal justice. Those who genuinely want justice for Aarushi and
Hemraj should insist on a fair trial as well as ethical standards from
the media.”
The flip side, of course, is that the media lynching of the Talwars also
now offers a facile accusation to lob at news anchors. While the
reporting on the Tehelka case is showing signs of devolving into
voyeurism (more on that later), the news organizations cannot be blamed
for either a) basing their reporting on what is publicly available,
which is the alleged victim’s testimony; or b) giving the benefit of
doubt to the alleged victim, much as Chaudhury herself claims to have
done. But for better or worse, the Talwars have now become a magic
mantra to be invoked by all those claiming to be the victims of media
propaganda.
That said, there is one very real parallel between the Talwars trial and
the Tehelka scandal: the violation of the victim. In both cases, moral
outrage became an excuse for the egregious and shameful exploitation of
the victim’s personal life. In the case of Tehelka, graphic details of
the alleged assault taken from a private email were circulated online
and even published, all in the name of calling Tarun Tejpal to justice.
Arushi’s correspondence with her friends also became fodder for news
coverage, but in her case, the media reached an all-time low in their
rush to prove unsubstantiated allegations of an ‘affair’ with Hemraj, as
Ghosh writes:
This narrative was first floated by Inspector General of Police (Meerut)
Gurudarshan Singh, who had ‘solved’ the case even before investigations
could begin. In a widely publicised press conference he declared that
Rajesh, who was as “characterless as his daughter” had committed the
murders after discovering Aarushi and Hemraj in “an objectionable but
not compromising position”. Singh was transferred for his defamatory
utterances but his ‘story’ gathered momentum across the media. On May
25, 2008, Zee News telecast a show called Crime File where anchor Manoj
Raghuvanshi doubling as mind-reader authoritatively claimed that Aarushi
had sought comfort in an affair with Hemraj because her father was
having an extra-marital affair.
Given this sorry state of affairs, it is perhaps a mercy that no CCTV
footage available of the alleged assault in Goa, as it would be
inevitably leaked and circulated in the guise of moral indignation.
Shoma Chaudhury may have had no luck wielding the Talwar analogy, but
their trial will long be remembered as a shameful chapter in Indian
media history. “A botched-up investigation, flip-flop by witnesses and
forensic labs, and a voracious and often irresponsible media have
ensured that doubts will persist on whether justice has finally been
done, no matter what the verdict on November 25 is,” writes Uttam
Sengupta in Outlook. There are no such doubts, however, about the guilt
of we the media. That verdict is already in.
ALSO SEE
Tehelka LIVE: Goa court sends Tejpal to 6-day police custody
Tehelka LIVE: Goa court sends Tejpal to 6-day police custody
Watch: All the twists and turns of the Aarushi murder trial
Watch: All the twists and turns of the Aarushi murder trial
Aarushi case live: Rajesh, Nupur Talwar get life imprisonment
Aarushi case live: Rajesh, Nupur Talwar get life imprisonment
RELATED VIDEOS
Tehelka scandal: Tejpal case should be fast-tracked, says Parrikar
Watch: Sir Martin Sorrell talks all things India... and Twitter IPO
Bookmyshow unveils new brand identity, rolls out new TVC
More from the web
When Good People Do Bad Things International New York Times
S Korean actresses convicted of propofol abuse Channel NewsAsia
Indian couple given life in jail over daughter's murder Channel
NewsAsia
10 High Calorie Foods You Should Never Eat Before Going To Bed
Healthier Foods
New Delhi hotel's most important marketing mechanism TripAdvisor
More from Firstpost
Police probe into Tehelka case: Shoma does a U-turn India
Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/living/the-talwars-and-tehelka-both-cases-of-media-excess-1248469.html?utm_source=ref_article
Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/living/the-talwars-and-tehelka-both-cases-of-media-excess-1248469.html?utm_source=ref_article
Firstpost
Life
The Talwars and Tehelka: Both cases of media excess?
by Lakshmi Chaudhry Nov 25, 2013
#Aarushi Murder Case #Media #MediaWatch #Shoma Chaudhury #Tarun Tejpal
#Tehelka #ToWhatEffect
inShare
93 CommentsEmailPrint
“On 25th, the Aarushi Talwar verdict is going to come out. The media has
done so much harm to the Talwars by coming to this presumptuous,
premature judgement. If you assume this is rape. And I’m amazed that a
man of Arun Jaitley’s stature and legal standing should assume rape
before something has been investigated,” said an angry Shoma Chaudhury
during one of the many odd moments in her CNN-IBN interview.
Minutes later, she evoked the Talwars again to underline the presumption
of innocence, “You have not allowed me to say what was done to the
Talwars. I think some of that is happening again. It is not to put
myself on some high ground.”
PTI/Reuters
PTI/Reuters
The inappropriateness of such a comparison aside, it marked one of the
many ways in which the Aarushi-Hemraj murders have become entrenched in
popular imagination and discourse, and become a kind of cultural
short-hand for media excess.
Each time a sensational crime hits the headlines, the Indian media head
right down the proverbial slippery slope, sliding from rightful outrage
to prurient excess in a matter of headlines. As Rajdeep Sardesai noted
during an IBN-live chat,
The Aarushi case is one where both the print and the TV media have much
to answer for. Let me also be honest: the Aarushi Talwar murder case was
a great news story and a great TV story. A father was accused of
murdering his daughter, so naturally the media was excited. Where we
failed was to understand that the bigger the story, the greater the need
to exercise restraint.
But in practice, the other principle holds true: Bigger the story,
weaker the self-restraint.
Sobriety goes right out of the window in the heat of a feeding frenzy,
when any detail, however trivial or unsubstantiated, can be held up as a
‘scoop.’ In the case of the Talwars, the media went one step further by
treating the trial as “a mere formality, perhaps even a waste of time,”
as noted by Shohini Ghosh in a Hindu op-ed which argued “The
presumption of innocence till guilt is proven is a cardinal principle of
criminal justice. Those who genuinely want justice for Aarushi and
Hemraj should insist on a fair trial as well as ethical standards from
the media.”
The flip side, of course, is that the media lynching of the Talwars also
now offers a facile accusation to lob at news anchors. While the
reporting on the Tehelka case is showing signs of devolving into
voyeurism (more on that later), the news organizations cannot be blamed
for either a) basing their reporting on what is publicly available,
which is the alleged victim’s testimony; or b) giving the benefit of
doubt to the alleged victim, much as Chaudhury herself claims to have
done. But for better or worse, the Talwars have now become a magic
mantra to be invoked by all those claiming to be the victims of media
propaganda.
That said, there is one very real parallel between the Talwars trial and
the Tehelka scandal: the violation of the victim. In both cases, moral
outrage became an excuse for the egregious and shameful exploitation of
the victim’s personal life. In the case of Tehelka, graphic details of
the alleged assault taken from a private email were circulated online
and even published, all in the name of calling Tarun Tejpal to justice.
Arushi’s correspondence with her friends also became fodder for news
coverage, but in her case, the media reached an all-time low in their
rush to prove unsubstantiated allegations of an ‘affair’ with Hemraj, as
Ghosh writes:
This narrative was first floated by Inspector General of Police (Meerut)
Gurudarshan Singh, who had ‘solved’ the case even before investigations
could begin. In a widely publicised press conference he declared that
Rajesh, who was as “characterless as his daughter” had committed the
murders after discovering Aarushi and Hemraj in “an objectionable but
not compromising position”. Singh was transferred for his defamatory
utterances but his ‘story’ gathered momentum across the media. On May
25, 2008, Zee News telecast a show called Crime File where anchor Manoj
Raghuvanshi doubling as mind-reader authoritatively claimed that Aarushi
had sought comfort in an affair with Hemraj because her father was
having an extra-marital affair.
Given this sorry state of affairs, it is perhaps a mercy that no CCTV
footage available of the alleged assault in Goa, as it would be
inevitably leaked and circulated in the guise of moral indignation.
Shoma Chaudhury may have had no luck wielding the Talwar analogy, but
their trial will long be remembered as a shameful chapter in Indian
media history. “A botched-up investigation, flip-flop by witnesses and
forensic labs, and a voracious and often irresponsible media have
ensured that doubts will persist on whether justice has finally been
done, no matter what the verdict on November 25 is,” writes Uttam
Sengupta in Outlook. There are no such doubts, however, about the guilt
of we the media. That verdict is already in.
ALSO SEE
Tehelka LIVE: Goa court sends Tejpal to 6-day police custody
Tehelka LIVE: Goa court sends Tejpal to 6-day police custody
Watch: All the twists and turns of the Aarushi murder trial
Watch: All the twists and turns of the Aarushi murder trial
Aarushi case live: Rajesh, Nupur Talwar get life imprisonment
Aarushi case live: Rajesh, Nupur Talwar get life imprisonment
RELATED VIDEOS
Tehelka scandal: Tejpal case should be fast-tracked, says Parrikar
Watch: Sir Martin Sorrell talks all things India... and Twitter IPO
Bookmyshow unveils new brand identity, rolls out new TVC
More from the web
When Good People Do Bad Things International New York Times
S Korean actresses convicted of propofol abuse Channel NewsAsia
Indian couple given life in jail over daughter's murder Channel
NewsAsia
10 High Calorie Foods You Should Never Eat Before Going To Bed
Healthier Foods
New Delhi hotel's most important marketing mechanism TripAdvisor
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Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/living/the-talwars-and-tehelka-both-cases-of-media-excess-1248469.html?utm_source=ref_article Firstpost Life The Talwars and Tehelka: Both cases of media excess? by Lakshmi Chaudhry Nov 25, 2013 #Aarushi Murder Case #Media #MediaWatch
#Shoma Chaudhury #Tarun Tejpal #Tehelka #ToWhatEffect inShare 93 CommentsEmailPrint “On 25th, the Aarushi Talwar verdict is going to come
out. The media has done so much harm to the Talwars by coming to this presumptuous, premature judgement. If you assume this is rape. And I’m
amazed that a man of Arun Jaitley’s stature and legal standing should assume rape before something has been investigated,” said an angry Shoma
Chaudhury during one of the many odd moments in her CNN-IBN interview. Minutes later, she evoked the Talwars again to underline the presumption
of innocence, “You have not allowed me to say what was done to the Talwars. I think some of that is happening again. It is not to put myself on some
high ground.” PTI/Reuters PTI/Reuters The inappropriateness of such a comparison aside, it marked one of the many ways in which the Aarushi-
Hemraj murders have become entrenched in popular imagination and discourse, and become a kind of cultural short-hand for media excess. Each
time a sensational crime hits the headlines, the Indian media head right down the proverbial slippery slope, sliding from rightful outrage to prurient
excess in a matter of headlines. As Rajdeep Sardesai noted during an IBN-live chat, The Aarushi case is one where both the print and the TV media
have much to answer for. Let me also be honest: the Aarushi Talwar murder case was a great news story and a great TV story. A father was accused
of murdering his daughter, so naturally the media was excited. Where we failed was to understand that the bigger the story, the greater the need to
exercise restraint. But in practice, the other principle holds true: Bigger the story, weaker the self-restraint. Sobriety goes right out of the window in
the heat of a feeding frenzy, when any detail, however trivial or unsubstantiated, can be held up as a ‘scoop.’ In the case of the Talwars, the media
went one step further by treating the trial as “a mere formality, perhaps even a waste of time,” as noted by Shohini Ghosh in a Hindu op-ed which
argued “The presumption of innocence till guilt is proven is a cardinal principle of criminal justice. Those who genuinely want justice for Aarushi
and Hemraj should insist on a fair trial as well as ethical standards from the media.” The flip side, of course, is that the media lynching of the
Talwars also now offers a facile accusation to lob at news anchors. While the reporting on the Tehelka case is showing signs of devolving into
voyeurism (more on that later), the news organizations cannot be blamed for either a) basing their reporting on what is publicly available, which is
the alleged victim’s testimony; or b) giving the benefit of doubt to the alleged victim, much as Chaudhury herself claims to have done. But for better
or worse, the Talwars have now become a magic mantra to be invoked by all those claiming to be the victims of media propaganda. That said, there
is one very real parallel between the Talwars trial and the Tehelka scandal: the violation of the victim. In both cases, moral outrage became an excuse
for the egregious and shameful exploitation of the victim’s personal life. In the case of Tehelka, graphic details of the alleged assault taken from a
private email were circulated online and even published, all in the name of calling Tarun Tejpal to justice. Arushi’s correspondence with her friends
also became fodder for news coverage, but in her case, the media reached an all-time low in their rush to prove unsubstantiated allegations of an
‘affair’ with Hemraj, as Ghosh writes: This narrative was first floated by Inspector General of Police (Meerut) Gurudarshan Singh, who had ‘solved’ the
case even before investigations could begin. In a widely publicised press conference he declared that Rajesh, who was as “characterless as his
daughter” had committed the murders after discovering Aarushi and Hemraj in “an objectionable but not compromising position”. Singh was
transferred for his defamatory utterances but his ‘story’ gathered momentum across the media. On May 25, 2008, Zee News telecast a show called
Crime File where anchor Manoj Raghuvanshi doubling as mind-reader authoritatively claimed that Aarushi had sought comfort in an affair with
Hemraj because her father was having an extra-marital affair. Given this sorry state of affairs, it is perhaps a mercy that no CCTV footage available of
the alleged assault in Goa, as it would be inevitably leaked and circulated in the guise of moral indignation. Shoma Chaudhury may have had no
luck wielding the Talwar analogy, but their trial will long be remembered as a shameful chapter in Indian media history. “A botched-up investigation,
flip-flop by witnesses and forensic labs, and a voracious and often irresponsible media have ensured that doubts will persist on whether justice has
finally been done, no matter what the verdict on November 25 is,” writes Uttam Sengupta in Outlook. There are no such doubts, however, about the
guilt of we the media. That verdict is already in. ALSO SEE Tehelka LIVE: Goa court sends Tejpal to 6-day police custody Tehelka LIVE: Goa court
sends Tejpal to 6-day police custody Watch: All the twists and turns of the Aarushi murder trial Watch: All the twists and turns of the Aarushi murder
trial Aarushi case live: Rajesh, Nupur Talwar get life imprisonment Aarushi case live: Rajesh, Nupur Talwar get life imprisonment RELATED VIDEOS
Tehelka scandal: Tejpal case should be fast-tracked, says Parrikar Watch: Sir Martin Sorrell talks all things India... and Twitter IPO Bookmyshow
unveils new brand identity, rolls out new TVC More from the web When Good People Do Bad Things International New York Times S Korean
actresses convicted of propofol abuse Channel NewsAsia Indian couple given life in jail over daughter's murder Channel NewsAsia 10 High Calorie
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Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/living/the-talwars-and-tehelka-both-cases-of-media-excess-1248469.html?utm_source=ref_article
Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/living/the-talwars-and-tehelka-both-cases-of-media-excess-1248469.html?utm_source=ref_article Firstpost Life The Talwars and Tehelka: Both cases of media excess? by Lakshmi Chaudhry Nov 25, 2013 #Aarushi Murder Case #Media #MediaWatch
#Shoma Chaudhury #Tarun Tejpal #Tehelka #ToWhatEffect inShare 93 CommentsEmailPrint “On 25th, the Aarushi Talwar verdict is going to come
out. The media has done so much harm to the Talwars by coming to this presumptuous, premature judgement. If you assume this is rape. And I’m
amazed that a man of Arun Jaitley’s stature and legal standing should assume rape before something has been investigated,” said an angry Shoma
Chaudhury during one of the many odd moments in her CNN-IBN interview. Minutes later, she evoked the Talwars again to underline the presumption
of innocence, “You have not allowed me to say what was done to the Talwars. I think some of that is happening again. It is not to put myself on some
high ground.” PTI/Reuters PTI/Reuters The inappropriateness of such a comparison aside, it marked one of the many ways in which the Aarushi-
Hemraj murders have become entrenched in popular imagination and discourse, and become a kind of cultural short-hand for media excess. Each
time a sensational crime hits the headlines, the Indian media head right down the proverbial slippery slope, sliding from rightful outrage to prurient
excess in a matter of headlines. As Rajdeep Sardesai noted during an IBN-live chat, The Aarushi case is one where both the print and the TV media
have much to answer for. Let me also be honest: the Aarushi Talwar murder case was a great news story and a great TV story. A father was accused
of murdering his daughter, so naturally the media was excited. Where we failed was to understand that the bigger the story, the greater the need to
exercise restraint. But in practice, the other principle holds true: Bigger the story, weaker the self-restraint. Sobriety goes right out of the window in
the heat of a feeding frenzy, when any detail, however trivial or unsubstantiated, can be held up as a ‘scoop.’ In the case of the Talwars, the media
went one step further by treating the trial as “a mere formality, perhaps even a waste of time,” as noted by Shohini Ghosh in a Hindu op-ed which
argued “The presumption of innocence till guilt is proven is a cardinal principle of criminal justice. Those who genuinely want justice for Aarushi
and Hemraj should insist on a fair trial as well as ethical standards from the media.” The flip side, of course, is that the media lynching of the
Talwars also now offers a facile accusation to lob at news anchors. While the reporting on the Tehelka case is showing signs of devolving into
voyeurism (more on that later), the news organizations cannot be blamed for either a) basing their reporting on what is publicly available, which is
the alleged victim’s testimony; or b) giving the benefit of doubt to the alleged victim, much as Chaudhury herself claims to have done. But for better
or worse, the Talwars have now become a magic mantra to be invoked by all those claiming to be the victims of media propaganda. That said, there
is one very real parallel between the Talwars trial and the Tehelka scandal: the violation of the victim. In both cases, moral outrage became an excuse
for the egregious and shameful exploitation of the victim’s personal life. In the case of Tehelka, graphic details of the alleged assault taken from a
private email were circulated online and even published, all in the name of calling Tarun Tejpal to justice. Arushi’s correspondence with her friends
also became fodder for news coverage, but in her case, the media reached an all-time low in their rush to prove unsubstantiated allegations of an
‘affair’ with Hemraj, as Ghosh writes: This narrative was first floated by Inspector General of Police (Meerut) Gurudarshan Singh, who had ‘solved’ the
case even before investigations could begin. In a widely publicised press conference he declared that Rajesh, who was as “characterless as his
daughter” had committed the murders after discovering Aarushi and Hemraj in “an objectionable but not compromising position”. Singh was
transferred for his defamatory utterances but his ‘story’ gathered momentum across the media. On May 25, 2008, Zee News telecast a show called
Crime File where anchor Manoj Raghuvanshi doubling as mind-reader authoritatively claimed that Aarushi had sought comfort in an affair with
Hemraj because her father was having an extra-marital affair. Given this sorry state of affairs, it is perhaps a mercy that no CCTV footage available of
the alleged assault in Goa, as it would be inevitably leaked and circulated in the guise of moral indignation. Shoma Chaudhury may have had no
luck wielding the Talwar analogy, but their trial will long be remembered as a shameful chapter in Indian media history. “A botched-up investigation,
flip-flop by witnesses and forensic labs, and a voracious and often irresponsible media have ensured that doubts will persist on whether justice has
finally been done, no matter what the verdict on November 25 is,” writes Uttam Sengupta in Outlook. There are no such doubts, however, about the
guilt of we the media. That verdict is already in. ALSO SEE Tehelka LIVE: Goa court sends Tejpal to 6-day police custody Tehelka LIVE: Goa court
sends Tejpal to 6-day police custody Watch: All the twists and turns of the Aarushi murder trial Watch: All the twists and turns of the Aarushi murder
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Firstpost Police probe into Tehelka case: Shoma does a U-turn India
Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/living/the-talwars-and-tehelka-both-cases-of-media-excess-1248469.html?utm_source=ref_article
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