Journalism, as they say, is the fourth pillar of democracy. But that requires one to be true and ethical. However, few media organisations and its journalists desperately require a fresher course in journalistic ethics, protocols, and boundaries.
One such journalist is Aaj Tak and India Today’s Mausami Singh. Miss Mausami Singh openly bats for the opposition parties while silencing the voice of right wingers.
Hypocrite Mausami Singh
Rules vary as per the person, place or context for Aaj Tak journalist Mausami Singh. A video that went viral on social media vindicated the same.
In the purported video, Mausami Singh can be seen doing a vox pop to ask about the experience of those voting for the first time. In this process, she probably forgot that she is a journalist and thus, is supposed to be neutral for all.
Mausami cheered a girl who after voting revealed that she has voted for RLD. The journalist, in the video, can be heard asking the girl that “Apke Tau ji (Uncle) bhi lad rahe hain elections” to which the girl replied that yes, he will win.
Further, answering to a question by Mausami, the girl also stated that “Mujhe pata tha, maine confidence se vote diya RLD ko.”
On the contrary, when another girl stated that “Mai bahot khush hoon, obviously mai chahti hu ki BJP jeete,” Mausami interrupted her angrily. She said, “Aap koi party ka naam nahi le sakti. Allowed nahi hai.”
You see, what is allowed for a RLD voter is prohibited for a BJP voter. That’s what says it all about Mausami Singh.
This @mausamii2u is a ‘journalist’? pic.twitter.com/BY7R7Nkfaz
— Shefali Vaidya. 🇮🇳 (@ShefVaidya) February 12, 2022
Mausami Singh’s love affair with the opposition
However, this is not the first time that Mausami has 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 raise questions on her view of ethical journalism but also raise sharp questions around media houses supporting such unruly conduct.
Mausami on her way to become Anjana and Barkha
Earlier as reported by TFI, in 2019 Mausami Singh had reached the Kashmir valley to accompany the opposition leaders. She 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.
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.
However, the truth was out very soon.
When the case was 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.
Mausami Singh, despite the security protocols, seemingly wanted to force a microphone in the face of security personnel.
Read more: Anjana Om Kashyap’s repeated offence shows why the TRP-hungry mainstream media needs to grow up
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.
Barkha Dutt is known by everyone. What they might not know is that the seasoned journalist had once tried to explain as to what steps Pakistan can take further on the Kashmir issue. She had narrated as to how Pakistan could now resort to Pulwama styled attacks in order to stay relevant on the Kashmir issue.
This is not all. The way Barkha covered the 26/11 attacks, the handlers of the attacking terrorists sitting in Pakistan got alerted about the moves of our security forces, due to which we lost Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan. In 2016, NDTV, where Barkha had earlier worked, covered Pathankot attacks in such a way that it almost jeopardized the lives of our men in uniform.
Mausami should have learned from them and avoid such kind of ‘journalism’. But, it seems like that the journalist is hell-bent on demeaning the right wingers and follow the foot steps of Barkha and Anjana.