Shweta Basu Prasad was caught in a sex racket in Hyderabad a few months ago and the media went all-out in their attempt to report ‘facts’. While the 23-year-old was sent to a remand home for 59 days, the media managed to get hold of her, speak to her about the sex scandal and print stories about her. How, you may question, did the police allow her to talk to the media when her case was sub judice?The answer came out yesterday.
The Hyderabad court cleared the woman of all charges and gave her a clean chit. This judgement brought great relief to the young actress who proceeded with an open letter to the media. (posted on her twitter account).
‘After my detainment, I went straight to the rescue home where I stayed for 59 and a half days. (60th day, I came home), then where and how did I give a statement to media? My phone was confiscated, I made few last calls to Maa and few other close friends. I had absolutely no access to newspapers, television, internet or radio for those 2 months. I had no clue what was going on outside’ states her letter which goes on to verify that all those media quotes were false.
The letter makes we wonder if it was perhaps Shweta’s celebrity status that new channels went all out without checking facts? Had it been another girl, nobody would have given it so much thought. The media truly has gone to another level when it comes to celebrity gossiping and yellow journalism seems to be the way to go.
I am a journalist too and I am ashamed of the way Shweta’s case was dealt with. In a world where every news story gets just about 5 seconds of attention from the audience, journalists have to grab eyeballs, but making up facts is taking it too far. Because Prasad was a well-known face, she was written about in every newspaper and covered by news channels but little did anyone think of how this would shape up for the budding actress’ career and life ahead.
Shweta’s open letter to the media sets the record straight. She was exploited, not physically but mentally and morally for sure. The media in its attempt to sensationalise news left no stone unturned, going to the limits of fabricating her statements. And in the process the media fraternity managed to violate a fundamental right of the people – the right to information. The people’s right to true, just and correct information was sacrificed in this episode. While I am a regular news reader and one from the fraternity, such incidences shake up my trust in the media.
I applaud Shweta for having the courage to come out and speak up against the media and blame them for spoiling her name. Her open letter to the media was a hard slap on the faces of all those who played an important part in tarnishing her reputation. I hope that this teaches them and everyone of us a lesson in why knowing both sides of the story is essential.
Image courtesy: Shweta Basu Prasad’s Facebook page
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