Ethics and the Media

The media is said to be one of the foundations upon which any true democratic nation can survive. Freedom of thought, speech and action are a must for a just and balanced society. This freedom has been guaranteed in our constitution and it is upon this that one of the 3 pillars of a democratic government, namely the freedom of the media rests.But just think, what all passes under the name of freedom? Recently the state of Kerala witnessed the death of P.Vijayan, a noted critic, author and orator. He died a sudden death. A man who had been smiling passed away in the next instant. He had been holding a press conference and passed away in the middle it, in front of the glaring video cameras.P.Vijayan had indeed been a noted personality and his death is of course a sad event. But what is the necessity in telecasting the event repeatedly?Death is a natural event. People die of various reasons. Many noted personalities have died before and will die in future too, for they too are human.There should be certain soberness in dealing with such issues. Any event that happens in front of us invokes responses within us. These responses lead to bodily reactions that are unhealthy and at times dangerous. They don’t make you feel easy and good at any rate.As P.Vijayan once opined even death may be telecasted alive in a globalised world. Death may be viewed as a valuable “scoop”.Death may be telecasted, but not celebrated.The T.V channels behaved s if they were celebrating an unusual event. By this way they have shown disrespect to the person died and to the society as a whole.Death is a one-time affair. Thank God he doesn’t die again to be telecasted alive again