Role of the media in Jessica Lall case
The Supreme Court has upheld the life term for Manu Sharma who was convicted for the 1999 murder of Jessica Lall.
The case became a cause celebre for the media, helping it grab eyeballs in a decade when private news channels mushroomed in the country.
It even inspired a novel by diplomat Vikas Swaroop, the author of the book on which the Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire” was based.
The case was something of a pot-boiler where fashion, high society, crime, political influence and media activism came together.
As Jessica Lall’s family heaves a sigh of relief the media too can pat itself on the back.
Or can it?
India in 2008: The year that was
Yet another year is coming to an end and independent India’s idea of being a republic is a year older. But is it any wiser?
On many counts, 2008 was both tumultuous and memorable for India, testing its men and the manner in which they confronted the challenges.
It was a year which saw the Manmohan Singh government face some of the toughest questions in its 4-year rule.
For that matter, some of the questions were directed at the people, the polity and the nation itself, which is still on edge after horrific images of a militant rampage on Mumbai made headlines around the world in late November.
It was a promising start to the year with the economy growing at well above 8 pct and the Sensex touching a staggering 21,000 points in late January.
Inflation was the only worry as global crude prices were near the 100-dollar mark.
2008 was indeed an eventful year. But it had more negatives than positives.
Yes, we had a good stint in Olympics and Cricket. But, we had to face so many terrorist attacks across India. The economic crisis also added to the gloom of the public. In a nutshell, I would consider 2008 to be the year best forgotten.
Whither shareholder activism?
July is the season for shareholder meetings, an annual rite of passage for Indian companies, with directors, shareholders and reporters trooping into large, badly-lit auditoriums to hear the chairman speak glowingly of the achievements of the past year, and a litany of woes from shareholders.
As a reporter who has covered many of these meetings of some of India’s largest companies, I have quickly learned that shareholders’ questions have little to do with family squabbles, succession policy, ill-advised acquisitions, or unflattering media reports.
Instead, they usually range from pleas for factory visits and bigger dividends to the quality of the snack served at the meeting. A few will ask about the cost of printing the annual report, and offer up suggestions for new advertising campaigns or congratulatory verse on the company.
Rare is the instance when shareholders pose tough questions, let alone dissent.
Contrast that with the narrow escape the chief of British retailer Marks and Spencer had in one of the biggest shareholder rebellions in recent years, with shareholders questioning the departure of a senior official and calling for the separation of the roles of chairman and chief executive that Stuart Rose held.
Other British firms have faced shareholder ire over such matters as CEO pay hikes, stock bonuses and merger plans, with shareholders forcing CEOs to shelve these plans and even to quit.
In India, some shareholders had questioned Tata companies on falling profits years ago. A few others have also asked consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever for updates on a thermometer factory in southern India which Greenpeace had accused of causing pollution.
the article really shows the “lack of utility” of these shareholdes meetings and unawareness of the shareholders at large of their powers.
Hundreds of men and women in suburban India are victims of societal malaise everyday. The media does not highlight their plight. Often it gives precedence to glamour over mundane, uncomfortable reality of everyday life. Let’s not forget that it was a media sting operation that captured on camera a professor of Aligarh Muslim University having sex with a rickshawpuller. It led to his humiliating ouster and death. Largely the Indian media does work for that “perfect story” but on issues that threaten our sovereignty, they do come together as a daunting, cohesive machine.