“It’s a defence airport, not a mall” Aaj Tak Journo Mausami should be ashamed of what she did in Srinagar Airport

Political temperatures soared up in Jammu and Kashmir after a delegation of opposition leaders were returned to Delhi from Srinagar. While the opposition camp blamed the administration for curbing their ‘visit’ the administration indicated that this political visit might have disturbed peace in the region. Nonetheless while political leaders were sent back, the media team accompanying them was so super charged to get the most out of the visit that even security restrictions around the defence airport in Srinagar was sidelined in the name of reporting.

Aaj Tak and India Today journalist Mausami Singh has presented yet another example of poor journalism in the name of assessing the current situation in Kashmir. According to Aaj Tak,  journalist Mausami Singh was going to take stock of the current situation in Kashmir in Srinagar where she was allegedly misbehaved by the security agencies, which was later shown to be something like this. –

However, when some social media conscious users investigated the issue turned out to be in total contradiction to the claims made by Aaj Tak.  In fact, in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, there are security restrictions in place in a bid to preserve lives and property against Pak sponsored radical groups. Nonetheless, unnecessary photography or videography is prohibited at Srinagar Airport due to security reasons as it is primarily a defence airport. In such a situation, how is forcing a microphone in the face of security personnel and disrupting the security protocols at a critical airport being equated to freedom of press?. In such a situation, many social media users not only got the #ShameonAajTak and #BoycottAajTak to trend, but also called out  Mausami Singh and Aaj Tak for their poor journalism –

https://twitter.com/ippatel/status/1165268176352903169

https://twitter.com/RanjitSMand/status/1165195103385743362

However, this is not the first time that certain journalists have indulged in this kind of subversive tactics. Whether it is to orchestrate crowd support spectacles for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra or to defend Mani Shankar Iyer, when some journalists had asked him tough questions, Mausami Singh has evidently done everything that not only raises questions on her view of ethical journalism but also raises sharp questions around media houses supporting such unruly conduct. In such a situation, it should not surprise anyone if they misbehave with security personnel in Srinagar only for TRPs, and later pretend to be victims to justify themselves.

Even before this, there has been a lot of criticism recently for such poor journalism. During the encephalitis outbreak in Bihar, renowned journalist Anjana Om Kashyap, reached a hospital in Muzaffarpur for coverage and without a thought started interfering and heckling the medical staff in the garb of news reporting. She was also fiercely attacked on social media –

Such uncooperative and disruptive conduct by journalists not only calls for condemnation but also raises questions on media houses which have turned a blind eye towards such unruly behavior. However it remains to be seen if media houses take disciplinary action against the journalists for hindering the security of the Srinagar airport or this issue will again be shoved under the rug citing freedom of press.