“A Tibetan man screams as he runs engulfed in flames after self-immolating at a protest in New Delhi, India, ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the country Monday, March 26, 2012”. This is part of a caption showing the photograph of Tibetan exile Janphel Yeshi, who is engulfed in flames and seen running down the streets at the famous protest site of Jantar Mantar in the National Capital. The protestor, who was demonstrating in New Delhi against a visit to India sometime back by Chinese President Hu Jintao, later, died of the burns he received. He is reportedly the 29th Tibetan to set himself alight since 2011 in protest against Chinese rule. Whether self immolation as a way of protest is the right thing to do or not, this is something that we can perhaps discuss some other time. Our concern right now is how those who work in the media, i.e. journalist or photographer, can better respond in a more humane way beyond the news headline or graphic description of gory death and destruction. As newsmen or women competing in these times of breaking news and sensationalism, it would seem that journalists can sometime become less than human. Coming to the picture of the Tibetan protestor engulfed in flames and seen screaming in pain and horror, what is so obvious in the series of picture splashed across front pages of newspapers and prime time television channel is how a group of journalists are seen (in the photo frame) gleefully snapping away at getting the best shot of this horrific site. As reported in the newspapers, only later some other protestors grabbed the man on fire and helped in dousing the fire. By this time however it was too late. The question for each and every journalist is this: whether sensationalism (or making headline news) is more important than human lives.
We are perhaps reminded of the rude, pushy and ignorant paparazzi photographers who are often described as an unacceptable annoyance even by celebrities. The heartless conduct of the photographers taking shots of the Tibetan protestor engulfed in flames is similar to the involvement of the paparazzi in the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, who were killed on 31 August 1997 in a high-speed car chase in Paris, France, while being pursued by paparazzi. Although the official inquests into the accident attributed the main cause to the impairment of the judgment of the Mercedes driver, Henri Paul, through alcohol, yet it was widely reported that as the victims lay in the wrecked car, the photographers continued to take pictures and made no attempt to help the victims inside. Perhaps their only motive was to sell their story to the highest bidder. It is also a good time to assess the role of the press in the highly competitive market. Newspapers should be able to play a constructive role by disseminating authentic information based on objectivity. This can greatly help in the formation of a healthy public opinion among the people. But sometimes the press also tends to indulge in yellow journalism by publishing highly sensational, biased and coloured news just to create excitement among the people. Spreading rumors and indulging in mudslinging on the part of the press is definitely not the mandate given to the press and this must be curbed. And like all other freedoms, the freedom of the press should also not be used as a license. It should not be misused to create a situation that undermines peace and humanity.
