How media impacted Mumbai attack

MUMBAI: As the deadly gang of terrorists went on rampage killing scores of people on 26/11 in Mumbai, the Indian media found itself in the firing line, not just of the killers but also of the authorities, for its reportage of the attack. However, amidst all this perhaps what got clouded was the immense impact specific media reports and visuals made on the incident, in entirety.
To start with the exclusive pictures of two terrorists Ismail and Ajmal (he was later captured alive) gun in hand and walking about the Mumbai city's largest train station after a killing spree was enough to silence the doubting Thomases that the killers were present in flesh and blood at the scene of crime.
Ajmal's photograph splashed all over the newspapers and TV channels had a rippling affect. Ajmal's antecedents in Pakistan were first traced by some foreign reporters and later followed up by a discreet (sting operation) coverage by a Pakistani TV channel that tracked Ajmal's parents to his village and caught his father on camera admitting that the lone captured Mumbai terrorist was indeed his son. The reports raised a storm and put further pressure on Pakistan to show transparency in the Ajmal's case, at least. Even as Pakistan continues to flip flop on its stand vis-a-vis the ten terrorists who bled Mumbai and still refuses to acknowledge that they were Pakistanis, the country's former Prime Minster Nawaz Shariff (who was silent on the attack till now) openly said that Ajmal was from Paksitan. Shariff urged his country to accept that Ajmal was a Pakistani and truth must prevail in this case. He also added that there was a need for Pakistan to do introspection. Before Shariff none of the heads of state (past or serving) in Pakistan ever admitted that the country had anything to do with terrorist strikes in India.
Amidst the gloom, on Friday, Mumbai Mirror published a human interest story about an Alwar (Rajasthan) resident who saw his long lost son's picture in a newspaper and came to Mumbai to search for him. The picture of his son rescuing a man during the terrorist strike last month had appeared in a local newspaper. Five years ago, the young man had run away from his home in Alwar and ever since the family had no clue on his whereabouts. The newspaper picture has brought a ray of hope to the hapless father.
A week after the attack, precisely three days after the guns fell silent following a 60-hour stand off with the terrorists, thousands of people marched to the heritage precincts at the Gateway of India in south Mumbai to show unity against the attacks and pay respect to those who lost their lives in the senseless carnage. Soon, the spontaneous but peaceful demonstration turned into a colossal people's protest. This unprecedented event was reported and telecast across the world.
For the first time, residents in the other cities of India were moved by Mumbai's plight and held similar protests and candle light vigils in Indian cities of Delhi, Pune, Lucknow, Kolkata and Hyderabad. This show of unity also shook up the political establishment. Reportedly, the Union home minister Shivraj Patil was forced to resign because of this. In the last decade and a half India has witnessed several terrorist strikes. In Jammu and Kashmir soldiers and citizens die almost every other day because of insurgency and militancy. Never before were residents of other cities moved (with the same intensity) by the plight of their fellow citizens in the other parts of India. The media reports of Mumbai attacks united the diverse country like never before.
On Thursday, the scathing criticisms of media coverage of the Mumbai attacks prompted the News Broadcasters Association to unveil self regulatory guidelines for telecast of sensitive events. It is expected to hold on to the fundamental ethics of journalism.