Media advertises sex-events

Role of media in propagating sex related events

On July 8, 2008 an event eclipsed cover pages of almost all the newspapers. The newspapers published an incident of clash between a couple and few minor boys over spiting by the lady on the youths. The clash turned into a serious turn by the intervention of police. The couple complained of assault and rape to the police and the police booked the accused till the confirmation by the medical report. Different versions of stories floated in the locality. Before the investigators reached to any conclusion many of the newspapers published with bold titles such as 'a pregnant woman raped by six youths” “six minor boys gang raped a pregnant woman”. Latter, medical finding proved negative.

           "A wannbe actress was raped by Director” captioned news appeared almost in every national newspaper. A wannbe actress Preeti Jain lodged a rape case against a National award winning Director Madhur Bhandarkar. But as par the medical findings and corroborated evidences rape did not take place. The media was too quick and impatient to publish the unfounded news without verifying the circumstances and evidences.  

          Few days back an almost nude photos of few celebrities were seen on the cover page of the supplement of a prominent newspaper at the pretext of coverage on the "cover page of certain magazines" such as "Play boy"

          The photos of love-couples in compromising position at public places can be seen on the cover page of the many of the prominent newspapers now and than at the pretext of describing either "the plight of public places" or "the disorientated youth" or "decline of cultural values" etc. etc.

          The well-known historical photo of youth molesting women on the eve of New Year at Juhu has acquired the prestigious place in the archive collection of media's diary and can be seen repeatedly in almost all the news media publications.

          The rape news gets headlines in every prominent newspaper. The news is given prominence coverage at the cover page. The media, not to reflect agony of the victim but to attract masses adds the elements of sensationalizations in such news. If a model's top slips accidentally the media feel privileged in detailing the incident meticulously to the unaware masses and shed crocodiles tears as if the media is very much anxious about the modesty of women and sends the message that such kind of events require much more concern then the problems of bread and butter of the soil's sons. Its approach is almost and every time voyeuristic. Media is well aware that sex related incidents are most saleable items than any other news. Common public hardly knows about the MMS and its function. But it is media that (inspite of under playing the message) considerably harm the reputation of the victim women by propagating and spreading the news to the common folks. At one hand it shows concern about the harm caused to the poor and innocent victim by the propagation through MMS and on the contrary it widely publicizes the message and proves instrumental in creating the curiosity amidst common unaware masses. The photos of girls and boys holding hands or getting intimate in public places get prominent space in prominent magazines/dailies not to reflect concern of the misuse of public   places but to attract readers. Had they been unequivocally concerned to such indecent events they would have ignored the photos and the message could have been published in a decent and indirect language rather than splitting the hair.  In many cases widely published sensational old news of rape is repeated overwhelmingly as reference while depicting a current such news of rape as if the media was desperate for an opportunity to encash the previous news. Almost all the magazines has column for Q & A at the pretext of reader's problems. These can be rightly described as a source of second hand voyeurism. Big celebrities are there to sort out readers' problem (which are dominantly sex related problems). Almost all of the agony aunts (columnist) are   neither trained psychologist nor professional sexologist and even they are not sufficiently qualified for the task. It's irony that the important and serious messages/advertisements regarding causes of AIDS are publicized with great care and delicacy in a very indirect language whereas the mode of rape and event of sexual assault is described meticulously and bluntly. This is obviously a matter of double standard/double speak. Almost all the magazines are encashing handsomely over sex-related columns at the pretext of providing knowledge of sexuality     and educating ignorant youths against meaningless traditional taboo about sexuality.  In many alleged rape cases the complainant is forced to frame charges against an innocent person or the case complained for was not actually a rape in its true sense. But the media is too obsessed to propagate the desired news as par its angle, which can attract the readers. It the accused is later released, the media never came to confess its mistakes/blunder and the media will either hide the news or reflect as if the accused has been released owing to inaction from the part of judiciary and give ex-pressions as if the victim is left to suffer. Media believes in possessing both the side of the coin and use them as par its facilities.  

            Whenever an event of similar nature will occur the reminders of following news will keep on dominating the headlines of the media repeatedly: -

"Kiss related incidents that are possible to rule Indian media for generations to come too"

(There was time when Indians did not kiss in movies; only flower petal did.)

1.    ·        Devika Rani's long and lingering kiss in the 1933 film "Karma" with Himanshu Rai, her real-life mate, shocked the prudes out of their wits.   That kiss remained in the museum of memory for many decades. Those were the days when, "what after the kiss?" was the starting point of tingling erotic imagination.  

2.    ·        Raj Kapur kissing the Russian actress, Kseina Rambiankina, in Mera Naam Jokar only reiterated the point that Indian girls were not for kissing.  

3.    ·        The 80s and 90s might have opened the floodgates for the kiss in cinema, but in real life it was still the best peg for a controversy.  

4.    ·        When Padmini Kolhapure gave India's royal guest, Prince Charles, a peck on his cheek in the 1980's, the media turned it into a morality debate. Just as the world thought that Indian girls were not for kissing, Kolhapure assumed every white man could be kissed. Little did the adolescent know that royalty must not be touched, leave alone be kissed.  

5.    ·    When Khushwant Singh kissed the daughter of the then Pakistani high commissioner, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, his grandfatherly gesture further jinxed the tenuous India-Pakistan relationship. Qazi rushed back to Islamabad to apologize, while Khushwant Singh carried on, without malice.  

6.    ·     There was some heartburn even when Shabana Azmi gave Nelson Mandela a "freedom kiss".  

7.    ·   Latter, Indian cinema, constantly battling censor board's sharp scissors, Karishma Kapoor's liplock in the 1996 film "Raja Hindustani" rekindled fire for ten minutes . 

8.    ·     The kiss reached Mallika Sherawat and serial killer Emran Hashami in 2004, no one was counting.  

9.          ·        Mika pressed his luck. A typical north Indian bullying trait. Rakhi amounted it to molestation.

10.  Richard Gare kisses Shilpa Shetty

11.  Kiran Majumdar Shah, the BIOCON, CEO and Vasundhara Raje, the CM of Rajasthan greet each other by kissing 

(Liplock was also first observed prominently in Indian cinema "fasale" hero kissing debutant (perhaps) faraha)