Media code of conduct

Image via Wikipedia

There is no doubt that the media was totally unrestrained during the Mumbai attacks - they revealed the military actions in real-time, spoke to hostages even before the police in some cases, and also caused several false rumors.

But here is a misguided attempt to "legalize" a good code of conduct:

Just like the rest of the world, from the moment I learnt of the attacks, I stayed up watching television. I saw our local Police try to figure things out, I watched our valiant Officers Karkare, Salaskar and Kamte arrive, and almost immediately, lose their lives. I saw the NSG and Marcos arrive and started to watch each step of their operation, when suddenly, realization dawned! Over the next thirty or forty hours, I watched, helpless and frustrated, as our very own electronic media did things that seemed blatantly wrong to me.

What they were broadcasting in the name of the news, were in fact the exact operational procedures, locations, and actions of our anti-insurgency forces! Minute-by-minute!

Small Change » Blog Archive » The Petition

Sounds reasonable enough. But then here comes the petition that is being requested:

3. That this Hon’ble Court make and issue such other Writ, Order and Direction as it may deem appropriate directing the Authorities to formulate a model Code-of-Conduct within a fixed time frame; that be made mandatory to the TV News Channels, to regulate the ‘Live’ broadcast of such and similar eventualities and operations.

I share the outrage, but this can never become law because its too vague and impossible to implement. Most importantly, the determination of guilt/penalty will be after the fact, when it is too late.

Instead, here is what was required:

1. The media should not have been able to get close enough for live TV in the first place! Where were the riot police ?
2. Cell phone towers needed to be configured so that hotel calls get redirected to a safe number (see next point).
3. What scares me is not just that hotel guests were calling the media, but that the terrorists could have picked up any cell phone and talked to anyone in the world!

The media and public will always have a gawker mentality (live police car chases in LA/FL come to mind). But rather than an impotent code of conduct, it should be physically impossible for the media to damage the counter-terrorist operation!