That was part 1. Here are parts 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Here’s the truth behind the Kandhamal riots of 2007. This somewhat choppily-made but unbiased documentary must serve as an example to our country’s media organisations which jump at the opportunity to sensationalise things with suitable background music as quickly as possible.

Because of the media’s portrayal of the 2007 unrest in Kandhamal as a horde of Hindus massacring a small and peaceful group of Christians, the popular memory of Kandhamal even today remains pretty much the same. In truth, the ground situation was something more complicated and needed more delicate handling than our media seems capable of.

What is even more saddening is that due to such sensationalist ham-handed handling of sensitive issues, the media ends up corrupting the national discourse on matters as important such as public welfare, communal harmony, and myriad internal security concerns. After images of mutilated bodies are flashed on TV and digested by the audience who buy the channel’s oh-so-sensitive one-sided tripe about “communal forces that are ripping the country apart”, it becomes difficult to come to sane and fact-based conclusions. Once the sub-conscious has been exposed to feelings of gross violation, the brain might as well take the day off.

I think sentimentality in journalism should be downgraded. It has done far too much damage already. Don’t give me elitist high-speak. Give me the facts and let me make my own decisions.