The coastal states of India – Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka are facing the wrath of cyclone Tauktae and despite the efforts made by the government, some people have lost their lives due to this cyclone. The cyclonic storm has also done a great damage as houses have fallen, trees have been uprooted and it won’t be wrong to say that the visuals of destruction are quite heart-breaking.
The Indian meteorological department has also issued warnings for the citizens living in the coastal areas. While the most-affected areas were evacuated by the government, the citizens living in other areas were asked not to go out of their houses and remain indoors to stay safe.
The news channels are also trying their best to cover all the news related to the cyclone Tauktae so that they can let the people know about the severity of the situation. However at the same time, the news channels should also ensure that there is no risk to the lives of their journalists. But to utter surprise, a news channel NDTV did the opposite and sent their reporter, Purva Chitnis at the Gateway of India where the situation was quite risky.
NDTV posted a video on their official Twitter handle in which their reporter Purva Chitnis was trying to tell how bad the situation was and she was not able to handle her mic properly as it was getting blown away by the winds.
The caption of the video was, “#CycloneTauktae | Heavy rain, gusty winds lash Mumbai. NDTV’s Purva Chitnis reports from Gateway of India”
Here is the video:
#CycloneTauktae | Heavy rain, gusty winds lash Mumbai. NDTV's Purva Chitnis reports from Gateway of India pic.twitter.com/Lw2kCQAtq4
— NDTV (@ndtv) May 17, 2021
Click to watch this video directly on Twitter
Twitterati was not impressed with this act of NDTV as they were risking the life of their journalist in order to gain TRPs and this is how angry people slammed the news channel:
#1
Is it really required to report from the mouth of danger. Reporter can stay a bit farther to the guzzling sea. zoom it up with camera.
— Dr. Shantanu Roy (@shantonu_roy) May 17, 2021
#2
Just to show others…
How "hardworking" they are! 🙄— Rutu Patel 🇮🇳 (@iRutuPatel) May 17, 2021
#3
Hi, This is stupid and dangerous. You can report from any safe place with roof and plenty of such places available just across the road. Even she could've done it in car. Everyone has experienced the strong wind in their life at some time so no visual aid was required. Take care!
— Snowball (Taylor's Version) (@mayurvedik) May 17, 2021
#4
Next time please ask your reporters to report from a boat in the middle of the ocean for a better coverage.
— Neel Ingle (@NiIngle) May 17, 2021
#5
And there is nothing to be proud about presenting a news like this @ndtv when your own ppl are not safe.. disappointed.
— Swathi Sankarraj (@SwathiSankarraj) May 17, 2021
#6
https://twitter.com/ohbatra/status/1394231943122722825
#7
Very callous on your part to have your reporter stand to “weather the storm” when the diktat from the Government was so clear to stay indoors….this doesn’t not qualify as news reporting….this is pure carelessness.
— Yashodhara Bajoria (@YashodharaB) May 17, 2021
#8
Why do you make your Ground reporters to go through this, when the adminstration has advised not to venture out, it includes these souls too. You can take Videos sitting in your OB vans.
— Spare the Fundamentals.. (@yarievnu) May 17, 2021
#9
Stay safe @ChitnisPurva, but why @ndtv is telling her to report from low lying areas.
It's better to report the Conditions from some safe places.
We know that People should know the Ground reality but life of a reporter is also precious.— Ali علي🇵🇸 (@alibhai_jaan) May 17, 2021
#10
This is bonkers to send out reporters in this state. This person is finding it hard to even keep the Mic in hold. Its always TRP vs Humanity.
— Sid (@Siddhy1990) May 17, 2021
#11
https://twitter.com/aarondxtr/status/1394213753235795969
#12
Do you think it’s humane act from media to ask its reporters risk their lives just to give a shot of what’s happening around. Do they need to be “reporting live on camera”? Safer techniques can surely be adopted to still capture videos w/o risking lives.
— Prachi Aggarwal (@prachi6196) May 17, 2021
#13
Please stop this, their lives are more worth than live reporting…. Please save the reporters
— Priyanka (@pri_shirodkar) May 17, 2021
#14
It's so sickening to see reporters has to go through all this. Looks like she is risking her life just for a report which is not even worth of reporting. Not every information is as useful as it though.
— Jatin (@Jatinpan45) May 17, 2021
#15
Lol, everybody knows how "stormy" a storm is, standing so close is so unnecessary and stupid. Wonder when will media mature like it's audience??
— Sweta A (@shwetz09) May 17, 2021
Stay indoors, stay safe!