The Power Of Photographs - They Can Fill Your Eyes Within Seconds...

While reporting and journalism have taken a different turn in the modern times than they were before, the concept of ‘photojournalism’ has emerged and boomed phenomenally. A picture speaks a thousand words and yes, they can literally drive the emotions of people and fill your eyes within seconds! I may write a thousand words using all my creativity but what a photograph speaks is brief and deep and can evoke the emotions of practically any person in the world.

There have been countless times that photojournalism proved its worth; from the pictures of people affected by the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in Japan way back during the World War, the victims of the fatal Bhopal Gas tragedy in India to the very recent pictures of people and kids affected by droughts and famines are heart wrenching.

Photojournalists in Turkey yet again proved the power of photographs when this heart-wrenching picture of a 3 year old toddler named Aylan Kurdia went viral on the internet. The picture was taken when Aylan’s body was found ashore in Turkey after the boat his family had taken to flee from Syria met with bad weather conditions and drowned. The picture of the cute little boy lying dead on the shores is surely something that made news in the media worldwide and broke the hearts of people. We may not know the atrocities that are done to people in Syria or in any other country across the world for that matter but, this one picture shows the condition of the country and what people and even children are going through. Along with Aylan, his elder brother and mother also got washed away by the tides.

If this wasn’t enough to fill your eyes with tears then here is another picture of a very cute little girl, again from Syria, who surrendered herself after a photographer tried to click her. The child, aware of all the atrocities that go on in the country, thought that the camera was a weapon and that she was going to die. Her expression says everything; she is terrified, sad and helpless and it surely is absolutely heartbreaking to see kids as small as the ones in the pictures suffering pain every day and leading their lives in fear.

We all know what goes on in Syria and the violence that prevails in the country from various terrorist groups. Although this kind of torture does not prevail in India, even India has countless pictures of people and children that are heartbreaking and speak a thousand words. Just go to Google and type malnutritioned children in India and you will get pictures with the power to fill our eyes easily. This is the current situation of the world; if children are subjected to this, can we imagine what is happening with the teens, adults and the parents of these children? (I am happy to mention here that the festival of Janmashtami has been decided to be a low-key affair by some organizers considering the drought prevalent in Maharashtra currently and many of them have also vowed to donate the prize amount to the drought-affected people. A commendable intiative, really!)

There was a news in the media about a month ago where a kid’s mother was brutally kid when the two were fast asleep during the night. The poor kid witnessed the horror of her mother being killed at an age when all she could do was recognize her mother. The kid cried the entire night unless her mother’s body was discovered the next morning. This is what the world is coming up to! Enmity has reached such a stage where people don’t even bother about kids or give a second thought to killing them or their families. SHAME TO HUMANITY!

The power is these pictures is surely huge to even make an emotionless person’s heart break. Photojournalism surely has a long way to go!

Also check out 50 of the world's most iconic photos and the story behind them!

Dear Media, What's With You?

The media is considered to be the fourth pillar of the society and a mirror of what’s brewing around us. Being a media student myself, we were taught that the media is the most powerful medium in today’s world that not only informs people but also helps them form opinions and come up with views of their own on matters that affect their life. But, seeing the current situation of the media and news reporting, I can only wonder what’s with the media these days!

The last time I wrote, I already talked about how sensational the media of today has become. The entire media is flooded with news reports and development stories of the Sheena Bora case. Since the past week, every time I read some news online or switch to a news channel on the TV, all I see is what Indrani Mukherjea said during her interrogation or what her ex husbands and present husband have commented on the case. Like there is nothing else happening in the country that the people would like to know or what is affecting our lives in some or the other way.

Sensationalism taking over like never before

Okay, every organization works with the sole purpose of amassing profits and there is nothing wrong with it. But, for an institution such as the media, it is really a question that what separates real news from sensationalism. There is a fine line between moral reporting and sensational reporting and it seems our media barons have really made profit their sole goal, forgetting the original purpose of news and reporting.

I have recently seen multiple posts on social media about people claiming that the Sheena Bora murder case has been given too much attention by the media. Or, I can say, the media is literally bombarding us with this only case and even the slightest of developments occurring in this. Okay, the entire world knows now who killed Sheena and plotted the murder of her brother. But, do we need to know what Ms. Indrani said to police in her interrogation or whether the police beat her up or whether she hated her daughter or not? The case has been undoubtedly getting huge space in newspapers, a huge time slot on the TV and great publicity in the digital media. Why? Because the people involved in the case are high-profile people (the so-called profile people I must say) who, the media wrongly thinks, affect our lives in certain ways. Since the people involved in the case are media barons, the news is receiving undue attention from the media.

And our media loves cooking too….

Yes, our media loves cooking…cooking stories and creating gossips by barging into the lives of celebrities and influential people, breaking their privacy. Recently, there have also been reports in the media about Arjun Rampal and his wife Mehr getting divorced since they were spotted at a court in Mumbai. Of course, I don’t need to tell you how stupid that sounds! The rumours were later rubbished off by the couple.

But, the question still persists…Is this what the media is meant for? Is earning profit so important to us that we forget our values and morals and cook up stories just for the sake of getting more TRPs and readers? Shouldn’t our media reconsider the norms of ethical reporting now?