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    Sridevi's Death: Indian Media's News Coverage Sparks Anger, Celebs Slam Media Reporters

    IANS, 27 Feb, 2018 11:54 AM
    • Sridevi's Death: Indian Media's News Coverage Sparks Anger, Celebs Slam Media Reporters

    Sridevi’s untimely death at 54 had many reeling. It wasn’t her time – and no one was quite prepared with words of bereavement for a contemporary. Usually, these deaths come with enough intimation to insulate people from the shock they bring with them.

     

    The actor’s death came like a rude, uncomfortable reminder of how we haven’t tamed death with the finesse we think we have mastered. It was possibly a combination of this shock and relative, perceived proximity that lead to the vicious dissections of the superstar’s death.

     

    It started with a viral Facebook post that started doing the rounds on WhatsApp as soon as Sridevi’s death by cardiac arrest was announced. Piyali Ganguly’s paternalistic, contemptuous declaration of Sridevi’s inability to deal with the pressures of staying relevant in the industry spread like wildfire.

     
     
     

    One of the local Bengali television channels had six “experts” conjecturing about the circumstances of Sridevi’s death. That included a well-known Tollywood actress who informed us confidently about what appetite suppressant drug Sridevi was taking and its side-effects.

     

    The anchor reported breathlessly that “traces of alcohol” had been found in her bloodstream, stressed that the amount was unknown, and yet seamlessly talked about “otirikto modyopaan” or “excessive alcohol consumption” as being a possible cause of death.

     

    They showed a bathtub and said without batting an eye that “this was that bathtub” as if the television channel had entered the sealed hotel room. They gave us details about the height of the bathtub and the Sridevi’s own height to bolster their theory about excessive drinking.

     

    Barkha Dutt, dubbing this as #NewsKiMaut writes in Washington Post that “news anchors usually far too supine to interrogate the powerful contorted their bulletins by discussing, in all seriousness, whether a trained dancer could lose her balance in the bathtub.”

     
     
     

    One account said she was found unconscious in the bathtub. Another said she was found on the bathroom floor fueling further conspiracy. Meanwhile all channels showed the forensic report of death by “accidental drawning” alongside her passport details, revealed for the whole world to see, her privacy rendered completely meaningless.

     

    In the accompanying report was a clip of Sridevi dancing at the wedding she attended days before her death with the line ‘Sridevi ka Aakhri Dance’ with the anchor saying ‘sharab ke nashe main chali gayi duniya se Chandni’.

     

    This was followed by Amar Singh clarifying, ‘She never drank whiskey, tequila or brandy’ followed by his expert opinion that it’s normal to drink a little at weddings.

     
     
     

    It gets worse. If you were anywhere near a TV screen last night, you can’t be blamed for having nightmares of a murderous bathtub coming to suck the life out of you.

     

    ABP News also had an anchor standing in front of a bathtub with a large goblet of red wine on the side. With ominous music playing in the background, the host asked, “If Sridevi was a teetotaler, then why did she drink that day? Did she drink because of family problems? Was she stressed about the end of her career? Was she depressed?”

     
     
     
     
     

    Another report on the same channel wondered if “Boney Kapoor was with his wife at the time of her death”, “why he flew back to Dubai to take her out for a meal” and, if so, “was he trying to make up for a fight”?

     

    Just in case you missed the fact that there was alcohol involved, they played these questions on a loop over movie clips that had Sridevi drinking or even standing next to alcohol bottles. All very subtle indeed.

     

    TV9 had a rendered image of Boney Kapoor standing over a bathtub where Sridevi, dressed in all white, lay. On Republic Tv, it didn’t take long for Arnab Goswami to draw parallels with Sunanda Pushkar’s death. Their reporter in Dubai went to the extent of wondering if Boney Kapoor tried to resuscitate his wife when he found her in the bathroom!

     
     
     
     

    In another Prime Time panel discussion, Times Now Editor-in-Chief Rahul Shivsankar wondered whether the actress drank vodka, some cocktail or wine!

     

    As we mourn Sridevi's death, RIP Indian media for throwing away all ethics of journalism and failing to do its professional duty with accurancy and integrity.

     
     
     
     
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