Lately accused of #bathtubjournalism, TV journalism has come under fire from social media users around the country.
As India mourned the death of her iconic star, investigation reports on TV concluded various theories and let its viewers in a state of confusion.
Some media channels even set up bathtubs in newsrooms to indicate how Sridevi’s drowning took place.
While most of it was based on gossips, rumors or imaginations of newsrooms, TV journalism lost its face this time.
Unlike previous instances where TV journalism carried out extensive reporting in #SheenaBoraMurderCase, reporting in this case was based on hard facts.
TV journalism also played some part in mounting pressure over investigating authorities to conduct fair investigation and trials.
With Times Now leading the charge on the murder case, #SheenaBoraMurdercase was one of the most extensive reporting that was done at the time.
Social Media users hailed the way a media trial was done on the Sheena Bora case and were able to connect to the the coverage.
Suraj Ojha @surajojhaa tweeted “@rahulmukerjea wrote open letter in support to his father peter mukharji #sheenaboramurder @mid_day @patel_bhupen ”
Indranil @IndranilAlways also commented,”@TimesNow thanks to #arnabgoswami for bringing #sheenaboramurder case to conclusion………..it was first placed on #telegraph paper”
Extensive hard fact reporting on TV and social media helped the #SheenaBoramurdercase come close to the conclusion.
But, #SrideviDeathMystery was a new low for TV journalism as forensic reports were made public and were questioned upon whether the Dubai doctors didn’t know the spelling of drowning which was spelt ’drawning’ in the report.
The sheer outrage was how TV media can run an investigation of a fallen star without hard facts and strong proofs.
rishi gupta @rishi9g commented”Average education, mediocre character, yes boss attitude contributes to beget #BathtubJournalism While desire to know more than happened, low IQ, copy/paste lifestyle begets moron viewers and altogether it’s a vicious cycle, that’s a threat B cautious.”
TV journalism also missed the important stories going on at that time such as SSC scam and Syrian killings in Ghotua.
Rohit Valecha @TheRohitValecha said”I cannot believe there are so many issues to be reported. #TISSforEveryone is much more important than #BathTubJournalism.”
Many media houses also used small points such as alcohol traces mentioned in the report to prove their point by linking it to a video footage of Sridevi holding a glass.
TV journalism might be struggling for viewers right now but it can make both good points and bad points about a case such as that of Sridevi.
Previously, corruption scandals have been uncovered by media houses but this time around for getting that extra bit over other media platforms; TV journalism lost its face.
Fault Lines 