Star Diary
Insensitive Journalism
The insensitivity of some journalist who covered the Savar tragedy left me cold. Most reporters tried to carry out their duty of gathering and providing information without making things worse for the survivors and the rescue workers. However, there were some journalists whose greed for exclusive, sensational news made them thoughtless to the victims' pain or the rescuers' efforts. A well-known female journalist was the worst of all as she persisted on asking insensible questions to the victims who were being rescued. What do you expect a person who has just been rescued from a terrible ordeal to reply when you ask him/her something like “how do you feel now?” Journalists should remember where to draw the line and not be too carried away by their zeal for information.
Shumi Khan
Mohamadpur
***
The Cost of Indifference
I was walking home from my office one day when I saw a small child begging in front of a shopping mall. He seemed tired and hungry, rushing from one person to another begging for alms. At one point, his hand accidentally brushed against the leg of a man, walking into the mall. The child, thinking nothing of it, rushed to ask money from another person, when the man caught him by the scruff and started beating him mercilessly. The guard of the mall too joined the man in hitting the hapless boy. I stopped in my tracks and asked both of them to stop beating the poor boy. The man seemed even more furious at my intervention and started saying that I had no right to stop him. I asked him calmly whether he could dare to repeat his action if this were the child of a well-to-do family. Listening to our arguments, passers-by, who till then were either taking enjoyment in the little child's misery or walking by hurriedly, asked me to ignore the incident and continue on my way, saying that the man made a mistake and won't repeat. I was shocked at the apathy presented by these people. They were ready to be entertained by something as hideous as beating up a child but they weren't ready to confront the man who committed a crime, so to speak, because they were too scared. If ignorance and indifference is our reaction to every evil as a society then I am sorry to say that soon we will have nothing humane left in us.
Imran Ahmed
Gulshan
The insensitivity of some journalist who covered the Savar tragedy left me cold. Most reporters tried to carry out their duty of gathering and providing information without making things worse for the survivors and the rescue workers. However, there were some journalists whose greed for exclusive, sensational news made them thoughtless to the victims' pain or the rescuers' efforts. A well-known female journalist was the worst of all as she persisted on asking insensible questions to the victims who were being rescued. What do you expect a person who has just been rescued from a terrible ordeal to reply when you ask him/her something like “how do you feel now?” Journalists should remember where to draw the line and not be too carried away by their zeal for information.
Shumi Khan
Mohamadpur
***
The Cost of Indifference
I was walking home from my office one day when I saw a small child begging in front of a shopping mall. He seemed tired and hungry, rushing from one person to another begging for alms. At one point, his hand accidentally brushed against the leg of a man, walking into the mall. The child, thinking nothing of it, rushed to ask money from another person, when the man caught him by the scruff and started beating him mercilessly. The guard of the mall too joined the man in hitting the hapless boy. I stopped in my tracks and asked both of them to stop beating the poor boy. The man seemed even more furious at my intervention and started saying that I had no right to stop him. I asked him calmly whether he could dare to repeat his action if this were the child of a well-to-do family. Listening to our arguments, passers-by, who till then were either taking enjoyment in the little child's misery or walking by hurriedly, asked me to ignore the incident and continue on my way, saying that the man made a mistake and won't repeat. I was shocked at the apathy presented by these people. They were ready to be entertained by something as hideous as beating up a child but they weren't ready to confront the man who committed a crime, so to speak, because they were too scared. If ignorance and indifference is our reaction to every evil as a society then I am sorry to say that soon we will have nothing humane left in us.
Imran Ahmed
Gulshan
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