Reporter Fired For Doing Standup While Riding on Flood Victim

...and from the side of something completely different from the norm, we see that Mainstream Media in India hasn't gotten quite all the memos on political correctness and the proper way to be on such subtle things yet. This would fit under jokes and pranks except that it actually happened and the link has the pic to prove it!

A reporter for the channel News Express in India has been fired after shooting a stand-up while covering flooding in the Uttarakhand region, sitting on the shoulders of a flood victim.

“You cannot ride on someone’s back for a story,” said News Express head Nishant Chaturvedi. “We terminated him on Tuesday.”

I should say not. I'm not sure quite where in some code of ethics it may specifically say 'one may not piggyback ride a disaster victim to keep one's own slacks dry' but it must be in there somewhere. Perhaps I just confuse it with common sense too. It seems management understood the concept well enough though...

The reporter, unfortunately? Still doesn't, it seems. Wow... Not even close...

“We helped him with some food and some money and he was grateful to us and wanted to show me some respect [by carrying me across the river], as it was the first time someone of my level had visited his house,” Pargaien says.

Source

Thinks an awful lot of himself, doesn't he? You can't make this stuff up. Really.

I was expecting a "standup comedy" routine. I see nothing wrong with it as long as it helped that person by getting some money. The man obviously was not forced into anything, he seems a willing participant.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

What is his "level"? Do you know?
Maybe I would have given him a piggy-back too.
Do you think there's any way his (the reporter's) deed might actually have been "the best response"?
Kinda hard to imagine, but... Maybe it would have been a greater disservice to reject the "ride", than to accept... (...like telling the tribal chief that you don't want to partake of the monkey brain still sitting in the bottom half of its skull that they just killed in honor of whatever you just brought his village...)
Otherwise - what an ego

reply to post by thesmokingman


Same here, I was picturing a reporter riding a floating flood victim like a surfboard while doing a comedy skit.

The actual story however is actually pretty retarded. I mean obviously the man was willingly helping the reporter stay out of the water by giving a shoulder ride. I just don't understand why the reporter was fired.

Our world is really going down the tubes and it makes me sick to be part of the ignorance that we call society.

Oh, thank goodness!

When I read the title I was thinking of a corpse. Still riding a flood victims shoulders is pretty wrong.

Ah, who am I kidding that's hilarious! Get mad at me if you want.

reply to post by WanDash

There is a caste system in India. Dots on the forehead indicate which level I believe.

Sad situation tis flooding all over the world.

Wow. They terminated him? That was a bit harsh

Originally posted by aboutface
...There is a caste system in India. Dots on the forehead indicate which level I believe.

Sad situation tis flooding all over the world.

Thanks - Yeah - I wouldn't know where I fit. All my dots are over my eyes, and none of my t's are crossed.

As to "flooding all over the world" -- that is really interesting as...we've tried everything - hired the most expensive, most renowned, most flamboyant, etc...et al...rain dancers...and the moisture continues to deny our request/s.

I have been through two floods as an adult. Both in the middle of the night (flash)... Very scary! ...Very...

Originally posted by aboutface
reply to post by WanDash

 

There is a caste system in India. Dots on the forehead indicate which level I believe.

Sad situation tis flooding all over the world.

I think you hit on the core of the story for why it was a firing issue, especially with his attitude on it. I wonder what class his manager was technically born into, as the caste system isn't supposed to be officially recognized. I'm thinking this one giving the ride fit on the Harijan end of it. Of course, another source is a little more blunt about it by simply using the other term... Untouchable.

Whatever the difference in levels the reporter was refering to, I suppose I'd politely decline riding a victim across a river like a pack mule for having given some food and aid. It would kind of erase the good Karma that the first act brought around, I'd think. Even if the victim had offered...

Then again, we always suspected the MSM traded their heart for a press card. No shock to see it's a world wide tradition I suppose. lol...

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I thought the title was a typo .. no .. really rode on a flood victim lmao.. Some Indians are still firm believers of the Caste system, as clearly the reporter is.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

I thought the title was a typo .. no .. really rode on a flood victim lmao.. Some Indians are still firm believers of the Caste system, as clearly the reporter is.

The guy giving the reporter a ride I think is too, as he stated he was honoured to have someone of his "level" visit his house.

When in Rome...

Some people still hold to the caste system, some people still hold to the social systems developed in the Western world too, which are not favourable to their participants. If the man giving the shoulder ride offered and he was not offended by it, I don't see why other people are.

It's like offering to help a person in a ghetto make a resume and find employment. They might get offended and simply rob you for the insult. . .

I think visually a bad idea. I'm not so sure of bad intent from the reporter though, since he was reporting on the spot, and not from a capital city x-miles away, and there is no-one fanning up a tsunami in the background, or fanning smoke over debris as has happened in war zones. Unfortunate is the word.

So India has their own sort of Paula Deen Scandal.

I could imagine that it would be much much easier to believe in the old caste system, if you were sitting at the top level, yes?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


This is where my ignorance comes out..

Correct me if I am wrong, but doesnt India still have a "caste system" still in use across the country? Or has that pretty much been abandonded?

If not, could this situation stem from that tradition?

It could be worse....

I love how the reporter tries to blame the cameraman..

“This was entirely the cameraman’s fault, who, it seems, almost tried to sabotage my career by shooting from that distance and angle

The reporter is refusing to accept he did anything wrong!

reply to post by Xcathdra

Correct me if I am wrong, but doesnt India still have a "caste system" still in use across the country? Or has that pretty much been abandonded?

Yes, they do. A very close family member by marriage was in that top tier. There is still a very obvious caste system in India.