Sections of indian  media have  reached an all new peak of sensationalism and insensitivity while reporting the sudden and tragic demise of the beloved Sri Devi.

When it was said that she had died of a heart attack, many accused her for causing it herself by undergoing cosmetic surgeries and went ahead to  use her death as an example to deter others from such procedures.

Once it was reported that her death had been caused by accidental drowning in the bathtub of her hotel room, they went ahead with reporting from bathrooms, with pictures of Sri Devi hanging over the bathtub, or an image of her floating in the bathtub with one reporter actually getting inside the bathtub  to ascertain how it could have happened! Of course, all this is done giving no regard to the feelings of the family and friends of the deceased who are grieving. Some of the images are so ridiculous that one doesn’t know whether to laugh or to cry and then you realise that othis is being shared on national/international  media with complete insensitivity and there really is nothing to laugh about.

Of course, our Pakistani reporters are no less when it comes to sensationalising news items for the purpose of bringing in ratings, trying to show something “original”or  just as a filler. At times, there are long gaps between the receipt of  verified information because of investigations etc but who has the patience for that. If it’s not re-playing the same reports over and over till the viewer wants to kill himself, then it’s just something that must be aired, no matter how untrue, insensitive or silly.

For instance, this reporter who got into Abdul Sattar Edhi’s grave before his burial! Who in their right mind would approve airing this???

Or the graphic after the Air Blue crash in 2010 which showed  an airplane crashing into the mountains and bursting into flames like a scene from a movie or a video game. Of course, none of these images come with any prior warning but what really shocks us is the complete disregard of the feelings of the hundreds who have lost their loved ones and what such a visual would do to them!! Although this was criticized immensely at the time, our media is not one to reflect or to learn a lesson. We saw a similar graphic being aired within hours of the 2016 PIA plane crash.

How can we forget the reporters who are sent to conduct interviews, seemingly with instructions to recreate a scene from a melodramatic drama.For instance, the female reporter who interviewed a 4 year old boy who had been estranged from his family. The behind the scenes footage showed how she deliberately made attempts to  make the child cry just to sensationalize her report. That was truly disgusting.

Or  the reporters who end up at peoples homes right after some tragedy has befallen them  and ask questions like “aap kaisa mehsoos kar rahain hai” and “in ki bachman ki koi tasweer dekhain”. For God’s sake, they have just lost a loved one in a sudden and tragic way, how do you expect them to feel! Obviously, the more tears shed  the better it is for the reporter.

The examples  are endless but the premise behind them all is the same. There needs to be adequate training of reporters on ethical  issues and responsible reporting. We understand the pressures and the competition but that cannot justify the kind of news coverage we see over and over again.

In india, social media users have established the hashtag #NewsKiMaut  – death of news to share their reactions to how Sri Devi’s death has been reported. How many more times will our news have to suffer this death to revive itself?