Fair journalism
I was sick to my stomach when I saw a television report about atrocities committed on child by a family where she was working as a servant. Disgusting as it might have appeared and regardless of however much I might have condemned such treatment of any human being, I did not appreciate the irresponsible television reporting of the matter. It has become a usual scene of major television channels in Bangladesh to parade alleged criminals or apprehended individuals before the cameras in a media cell.
In my many years if legal practice around the globe, I have never seen any such arrangement in any civilised nation where the alleged criminals, even before or after the charge sheets were submitted, would be paraded before such a media cell. Every person must be treated innocent until proven guilty. I was also shocked to have seen the alleged guilty individual, a lady in her middle-age, was being forced by the female television reporter to show her face to the cameras in order to name and shame her before even the trials were even initiated. In the developed countries, regardless of the gravity of the alleged crime, the accused are given the option to hide their faces from the media. The media do run high risks of being slammed with several serious litigations if any such reporting is proven to be false in the court of law later.
We must remember that it is the basic principle of equity laws to 'let 100 criminals go by but not to punish a single innocent' and any such wrong reporting may destroy a whole family from re-integrating with society later. The reporters must play a neutral role in exposing their findings and I believe they do require basic legal training in this matter.
It seems we often forget that even the worst criminals have human rights too and that is the mark of human civilisation. Irresponsible journalism often gives rise to hidden agendas emanating from yellow journalism.
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