Dear Mayabhushan,
The Herald picture was indeed questionable. But I feel the issue was not really one which a person of your talents should have bothered about. Essentially it was an error of judgment of a fresher journalist I feel, committed after the Editor went to sleep. If some young journalist had taken up the issue and earned some brownie points - it was OK. But for a guy of your stature who has made 'maskerie' of the National media and who has taken the local media for a ride on several occasions - this story was not worthy of your attention. You should keep your guns trained on the big guys. Regards Augusto On Sat, Aug 3, 2013 at 3:28 PM, Mayabhushan <[email protected]> wrote: > http://www.newslaundry.com/2013/08/herald-gets-creative/ > > *Herald Gets Creative > Posted by Mayabhushan Nagvenkar > August 2, 2013 in Criticles, Critique | 0 comments > * > If you thought the announcement of the creation of Telangana by *The > Times of India* was somewhat bizarre, you should take a look at the even > more bizarre stunt by a Goa daily. *Herald*, one of Goa’s three > largest-selling newspapers carried a re-created shocking photo-illustration > of a mother jumping off a river with two children as the front page lead > photo in its July 30 issue. > > The crude photo > illustration<http://www.epaperoheraldo.in/epapermain.aspx?queryed=9&eddate=7/30/2013>was > perhaps meant to accentuate and convey the tragedy which had taken > place the previous day — that of a 35-year-old lady doctor’s leap to death > from a bridge along with her two daughters aged 2 and 5 years of age. > > The illustration which carries the byline of the newspaper’s designer, > Manoj Shirodkar, shows a woman wearing a pink *salwar kameez* and two > children in the middle of a leap and in various stages of excitement. One > can even see a hint of a smile on the face of the smaller child in the > illustration, which has been slightly blurred for effect. But what’s > unmistakable is the state’s most prominent Mandovi bridge in the backdrop, > from which Dr Vaishali Kambli jumped off with her children in the wee hours > of July 29. Their bodies were pulled out later in the day. > > The publication of the illustration has expectedly resulted in a slew of > outrage in the social media. > > Writer Cecil Pinto said the newspaper owes an apology to the Kambli family > and the newspaper’s readers. “This is a sad suicide and not a happy Sao > Joao (a traditional Goan monsoon festival which involves jumping into wells > as a mark of celebration)! I think the Editor of *Herald* owes not only > the family of the deceased but also its readership a front page apology. > Please forward this to your friends if you agree with me and also contact > the Editor and convey your sentiments”, wrote Pinto on *Goanet*, one of > the oldest mailing lists on issues related to Goa and Goans. > > A small front page > apology<http://www.epaperoheraldo.in/Details.aspx?id=10130&boxid=165221531&uid=&dat=7/31/2013>did > follow on July 31. > > Interestingly, the expression of regret, which was published in the top > left column of the newspaper, was not attributed to the newspaper’s editor. > The newspaper has also refrained from publishing a slew of emails which > have been sent to it by outraged readers. Many of whom have taken recourse > to sending the same letters to social media websites and other mailing > lists. > > As Ethel da Costa, Goa Station Head, *Radio Mirchi* wrote “… today’s > front page photograph of the unfortunate doctor’s suicide along with her > two minor girls, is completely bad in taste. For the sake of sensationalism > and alleged sales in mind, it is simply not ethical to portray a horrific > incident in visual graphic, without keeping the sentiments of the readers > and the families in mind”. > > The endemic rot which prevails in the newspaper industry to sensationalise > even the most tragic or serious of incidents cannot be ignored. One could, > though, expect that the editor of Herald would have displayed some > journalistic integrity and apologised for this illustration. > > *Disclosure: The writer has worked for the Herald from 2000 to 2003.* > > [image: Contact > Mayabhushan]<http://www.newslaundry.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Contact-Mayabhushan.jpg> > > > -- > -- > Mayabhushan Nagvenkar > 1392, Anjuna, Bardez, Goa > pin code 403509 > # 7350131007 > > h <http://www.goastreets.com>ttp://www.penpricks.blogspot.com > h <http://www.goastreets.com/>ttp://www.ardh-satya.blogspot.com > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "GoaJourno" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/goajourno. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- Augusto Pinto 40, Novo Portugal Moira, Bardez Goa, India E [email protected] P 0832-2470336 M 9881126350
