TELEPROMPT
Even media lacks conscience
Mannika Chopra

Despite the judgment in Union Carbide case that was splashed across all TV news channels as a sign of hope, the misery and suffering still persists in Bhopal. Monday’s judgment only served to highlight the utter lack of conscience on the part of the Indian and American governments, the people and yes, even the media. Twentysix years after the deadly methyl iso-cynate enveloped the city of Bhopal, thanks to a leaky tank located in the premises of Union Carbide factory, it takes a disastrous judgment or an anniversary for the media to wake up.

No programme on any channel, I saw, aired an exhaustive journalistic reconstruct or investigation as to what happened on that night and why: instead, they kept airing segments called ‘Judgment Day’. Some channels preferred to repeat programmes made to mark the 25 years of the gas tragedy last year (Star News) while others aired heated studio discussions with the blame being pinned on the current dispensation, the Congress (News @Nine, NDTV 24X7).

And we watched in horror, not only because of the numbers, which are still mounting, one way or the other, but also because of a spectacular lack of accountability and culpability. An outrageous sentence — two years for the eight accused, was as activist Sathyu Sarangi said plaintively, the equivalent of what is given for a traffic crime. As the judgment on the world’s worst industrial accident played out on cable news channels, DD preferred to show Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Kashmir yatra.

In the meantime, Warren Anderson, the person with whom the buck ultimately stops, is missing in action. Just after the incident in December 1984, Anderson had vowed publicly to devote his life to finding out the cause of the leak. More recently, he reportedly told a financial daily that he thought the people of Bhopal were a "bunch of hypochondriacs".

TV wears violence like a badge. If it isn’t blood-splattered real-life violence dominating the news headlines, we have a plethora of crime shows on general entertainment channels, even on channels like Discovery. The criminal-justice-detective-police-forensic genre is in. Nothing made it more apparent this week when I saw, for the first time, a channel devoted entirely to crime — Fox Crime.

Of course, there are crime shows and there are crime shows, but the degree of watchability varies. The CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) series (Miami, New York, or plain ol’ CSI) with their high degree of improbability somehow does not make it to my list of favourites, though in foreign lands it is a high-ranking drama. If I want to romanticise the world of forensics, I much rather watch Bones. For a wonderful and winning combination of smart detective work and human frailty there is Monk (Star World). I really should use the past tense, as the show has now, sadly, globally exited with its final season. Top of the line in the judicial criminal framework, there is no one to beat the brilliant bounder Judge, Deed (BBC Entertainment) or Boston Legal (Star World).

Cricket is just about to be removed from its much-vaunted position. India’s famed insularity and love for this sport will change, at least for a month. The FIFA World Cup kicked off yesterday and is going to be many viewers constant preference for a month. The World Cup, being played in South Africa this time, is supposed to be the most watched sporting event in the world. (FIFA’s website says that the 2006 World Cup final match between France and Italy held in Germany was watched by over 700 million people in 213 countries, across 376 channels). So as I said, move over cricket, the competition is too tough. And about time, too. This constant national passion for cricket and cricketers, has spoilt our boys in blue who are going around losing every match with gay abandon.

So be prepared. Even if you don’t like soccer you are going to be sucked into the system. The sports channels are going berserk, trying to show promos of what they will be carrying in terms of coverage. In 2006, the most enduring image of that one month of guts and glory, was the French footballer Zidane, walking away, pausing and then returning to head-butt that irritating Italian Materazzi’s blue chest. This one act became the painful, ambiguous ending to the FIFA World Cup. Hopefully, that takeaway from four years ago will not be repeated.