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By:

Shoma A. Chatterji

21 August 2024 at 10:49:40 am

Exposé or Ethical Trap?

Sting operations promise accountability, but often blur the line between public interest and voyeurism. The term ‘sting’ was popularized in the classic Robert Redford-Paul Newman caper film ‘The Sting’ (1973). It was released in India at a time when no one understood the meaning of the term. It featured two men who attempt to pull off the ultimate con a ruthless crime boss (brilliantly played by Robert Shaw) when one of their associates gets killed. But as many viewers (including this writer)...

Exposé or Ethical Trap?

Sting operations promise accountability, but often blur the line between public interest and voyeurism. The term ‘sting’ was popularized in the classic Robert Redford-Paul Newman caper film ‘The Sting’ (1973). It was released in India at a time when no one understood the meaning of the term. It featured two men who attempt to pull off the ultimate con a ruthless crime boss (brilliantly played by Robert Shaw) when one of their associates gets killed. But as many viewers (including this writer) did not quite get a grip on the proceedings, the meaning of the title term remained largely obscure to Indian viewers. What was once a baffling cinematic conceit has since entered the everyday vocabulary of Indian journalism and law. Sting operations provide us with evidence that can be used against a particular person or organization to prove them guilty in court. But since our legal system works only on the basis of evidence and in most of the cases due to lack of evidence, the suspect escapes punishment and is free to carry on with his or her criminal activities. Ethical Dilemma The central ethical question is one of integrity. How legitimate is it for a journalist to secretly record an individual who has no knowledge of being filmed precisely because consent, if sought, would almost certainly have been denied? Does such an operation not amount to a violation of the subject’s right to privacy, even when carried out in the name of public interest? A sting operation is often presented as a hallmark of ‘new-age journalism,’ but one fraught with unresolved ethical dilemmas. It is particularly suited to television, where visuals amplify impact; in print journalism, it is more commonly described as an ‘exposé.’ In legal parlance, a sting is typically a carefully orchestrated exercise involving a journalist, a videographer and editorial sanction sometimes with the tacit approval of owners or publishers with vested interests. The smartphone has replaced the video camera, enabling journalists to operate alone and claim exclusivity, but at the cost of verification as he absence of a second witness weakens corroboration. As a result, sting operations are increasingly vulnerable to questions of authenticity, integrity and objectivity, especially since journalists, like all individuals, are shaped by personal biases. In practice, television channels have largely deployed stings to police what they define as ‘moral turpitude,’ often targeting public figures for private conduct. The notorious case involving Swami Paramahamsa Nithyananda and actress Ranjitha exemplifies this drift. There, secretly filmed footage was broadcast for sensational effect, triggering public outrage and mob violence, while serving no discernible public interest beyond titillation and the symbolic unmasking of a self-styled godman. For the media in general, sting operations could be ‘manufactured’ to raise the TRPs of a news channel with falling TRPs with so-called ‘sensational’ stories with pictures that are titillating. This reminds us of the widespread television expose of the affair between Professor Matuk Nath Chaudhary of Patna University and his very young research student Julie. The satellite channels were flooded with sensational and distasteful clips gobbled up by the television audience everywhere. Did this serve any larger purpose except titillation?  What kind of journalism was this? Why should the media care about the private affairs of private people? On the aftermath of this sting exposure, the media practically played into the hands of this adulterous couple who got the publicity they were probably looking for on a golden plate. They came on panel interviews on television, giving comments on the ‘spiritual’ and ‘platonic’ nature of their relationship. What did such a ‘sting operation’ gain? In the long run, Chaudhary lost his job and the audience gained nothing. It was ‘journalism’ that gave bad taste a bad name.   Two examples would suffice to substantiate the efficacy of sting operations. BJP chief Bangaru Laxman was forced to resign after the sensational sting operation by Tehelka in March 2001 following the telecast of a sting operation showing him accepting money from fake arms dealers. Biswa Majumdar, then the news editor of a Bengali news channel NE Bangla, organized a sting operation on Mohammad Ilyas shown accepting a bribe of Rs. 10,000 from reports posing as NGO workers in exchange for his raising questions in the state assembly. This expose forced Ilyas not only resign from the Assembly but was also suspended from the party.   Today in the present scenario where political corruption is at its peak, it is difficult to even discover which ‘sting operations’ are politically motivated, which are truly designed to cleanse the society, or, which are actually the fruits of concocted journalism funded by different political parties or their corporate sponsors, or both. (The author is a noted film scholar who writes extensively on social issues. Views personal.)

Choking Mumbai

For decades, Mumbai was perceived as a rare urban oasis, where the saline sweep of the Arabian Sea blunted the worst ravages of India's air pollution. That illusion has now been dispelled. A meticulous four-year study by Respirer Living Sciences (RLS), using data from its AtlasAQ platform, reveals the bleak truth that the city’s air is thick with pollutants all year round, with no ‘clean season’ left.


Mumbai’s annual average levels of PM10 (particulate matter ten microns or less in diameter) have consistently breached the national safety threshold of 60 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m³). This is not merely a seasonal malaise tied to cooler winter months, as once assumed. Alarmingly, the city’s pollution levels persist even through the hot season, a time when improved atmospheric dispersion should offer natural reprieve.


Across the city - from Chakala in Andheri East to Deonar, Kurla, Vile Parle West and Mazgaon - pollution has become an unrelenting, ubiquitous presence.


The culprits are well known: traffic emissions from a burgeoning number of vehicles; unregulated dust from frenzied construction; industrial activity in and around the ports; and a conspicuous lack of dust control measures. Mumbai’s ceaseless growth now risks becoming a chronic liability.


Worryingly, the regulatory response remains sluggish. Mumbai’s urban planning continues to treat clean air as a peripheral concern, not a foundational necessity. Development plans rarely integrate environmental impact assessments in a meaningful way.


A sharper, citywide strategy is urgently needed. Dust suppression rules at construction sites must be enforced strictly, with financial penalties for violators and incentives for best practices. Traffic management systems should be overhauled to ease congestion and encourage the use of public transport. Expansion of clean, reliable mass transit network needs to be urgently prioritised. In addition, comprehensive real-time air monitoring at the ward level should be deployed, enabling authorities to respond to localised pollution spikes swiftly rather than relying on citywide averages that conceal dangerous hotspots.


Longer-term, clean air targets must be hardwired into the city’s master planning and transport policies. Green buffers along major traffic corridors, stricter emission norms for commercial vehicles and incentives for rooftop gardens and urban afforestation could all play a part. Industrial zones near port areas should be subjected to rigorous air quality compliance measures, not token self-certifications. Private developers and large infrastructure firms, often among the worst offenders, must be made stakeholders in the clean air mission through binding regulations.


Mumbai’s commercial dynamism - as a magnet for migrants, entrepreneurs and investors - depends not just on glittering skyscrapers but on something far more basic: the ability to breathe. Unless clean air becomes an unshakeable priority, the city risks suffocating its own future. For a metropolis that prides itself on its resilience against terror attacks, monsoon floods and economic shocks, the real test will be whether it can muster the will to fight an invisible, pervasive enemy slowly corroding the lives of its 20 million citizens.

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