Comments on: Dying for Food

By: Avik

Avik — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 00:55:52 +0000

Subra……..you are right ….the left front govt. are busy with dirty politics and innovating new booth-capturing techniques……so…..

By: Avik

Avik — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 00:54:13 +0000

Subra……..you are right ….the left front govt. are busy with dirty politics and innovating new booth-capturing techniques……so…..

By: gargi

gargi — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 09:36:26 +0000

hi subra. neither.
i was merely extending courtsies to someone who was commentign for the first time on my site!

By: Subra Srinivasan

Subra Srinivasan — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 08:47:13 +0000

Harini

You have written as if you knew me from before ? Do you ? Or, are you mistaking me for somoene else of the same name….?

This “headline screaming” is a visual illusion that we conjure up in our minds. In truth, print headlines scream only if I have my ears and mind tuned to that topic. If I wasn’t interested in the original topic, I wouldn’t care, no matter how big or bold or colorful the headline is.

With that being said, the media is only giving us stuff in the way they are giving it, because that is what we look at. Even the media is a for-profit business, and it is in the business to make money. So, their behaviour is conditioned by what their audience wants to read / see / hear. (Rare is an MSM that conditions readers to what it gives)

A pesticide related death story doesn’t win them that many eyeballs, and consequently, money. So, we could blame the media for being opportunistic. But that is no more a crime, than being in a for-profit business.

However, the missing eyeballs are what are the root cause of the problem. And, I am not indicting them. Life here is one long, rough journey for most of us common folks. The general feeling is “what can I do ?”. The apathy comes from there. It is a truly pathetic attitude, (and I include myself in that list), but that is the reality. We don’t have an enabling and empowering justice and police system conducive for mass action in such cases. Without that, popular perceptions can never drive action on such matters.

By: gargi

gargi — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 05:07:38 +0000

Hi subra. nice to see you on POV.
i am not sure about the apathy of readers. if my headline screamed about people dying of hunger - 58 years after independence - and there was a sense of outrage about it, it probably would catch attention. tucking away the story with a bland headline will not get it noticed.
also, these kind of stories are usually de humanised. they become more a case of spouting statistics and policy pitfalls. however, if you give the story a human face - mala dies of hunger - it becomes more real.
i think Stalin got it right when he said - when one person dies it is a tragedy, when millions die it is statistics.

By: Subra Srinivasan

Subra Srinivasan — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 10:20:34 +0000

The MSM did run this story, as I remember it in a few websites, and atleast a couple of newspapers. It is true that many of them didn’t follow-up with specials or investigative stories to give greater publicity.

But, the initial story itself probably met with apathy, and didn’t hold the interest of the readers much. So, I think the lack of real outrage reflects more on the general reader population, than about the mainstream media.

I’m not surprised. It is always a case of, ‘if it doesn’t hurt me today, who cares’. And, when it does come back to hurt me, it will be like, ‘what a terrible Govt. this is, what a terrible blah, blah….’

As they say about many things, we all get what we deserve. Always.