The Editor
Times of India
February 16th 2012
Sir,
Like several people, I read recent news clips datelined Gurgaon in your publication with pain, empathy, and concern for two and a half year old Sanju allegedly killed by “a pack of stray dogs”. Unlike several other people, I finished reading the article with a sense of anxiety and worry at the plummeting standards of journalism in this country and the absurdities to which it is being reduced by unprofessional and subjective reportage promoting sensationalism, descending into illogic and lies to colour gullible or already biased readers. Allow me to substantiate. I rely on reports carried in your publication to make the point. (The italics are mine)
September 29th 2011 : “Over 50 bitten by stray dogs in Gurgaon everyday” by Bhawna Gandhi, TNN
“…the dog menace remains a big problem in Gurgaon where on an average more than 50 people get bitten by stray dogs on a daily basis.”
“…the Civil Hospital claims that cases of dog bites have not come down in Gurgaon and that they get around 50-60 patients…”
“…Gurgaon has…sterilized and vaccinated about 18,000 dogs in the city. As per WHO recommendations, once 80% of stray dogs and 100% of pet dogs get vaccinated and sterilized, the propagation of rabies virus can be halted…”
February 14th 2012, 07:08 a.m. : Fifty bite cases in hospitals daily, by TNN
“The city has more than 50,000 stray dogs….more than 50 patients are admitted daily for rabies vaccination at the Civil Hospital…”
“Officials say around 22,000 dogs have been sterilized and vaccinated so far in the district.”
‘A census carried out by the animal husbandry department three years ago put the number of stray dogs are 40,000…a bitch in a lifespan of about six years produces 50-60 puppies and their survival rate is about 50%.”
February 14th 2012, 07:09 a.m. : Toddler found dead with ‘dog bites on his body’, by Sanjay Yadav, TNN
“A two and a half year old boy was found dead early on Monday morning in Sector 9 and there were dog bites all over his body. The boy was asleep with his parents in a slum, but early morning they saw he was missing.”
“They had gone to bed around 9 p.m. Around midnight Sanju had woken up and Meeta gave him milk after which he dozed off again. But around 5 a.m. he was missing said the mother of the deceased boy.”
“We are awaiting the post mortem report, which is expected tomorrow. We are investigating the case from all angles. The post mortem report alone can confirm that the body parts were eaten by dogs. Now we have recorded the passer-by’s statement said the DCP.” (Dr. Abhey Rao, DCP)
Basis an objective inference of your publication’s reports excerpted above, allow me to draw your attention to the contradiction and irresponsible reportage where none of the journalists have bothered to apply mind before filing their stories.
1.Between September 2011 and February 2012 the number of dog bite cases claimed by the Civil Hospital are a static and a constant 50. Never more, never less but always that stable number. This cannot pass muster simply because it is against basic principles of statistics. Equally importantly, the veracity of this stationary data is suspect. It offers a quantitative number while making no subscription to any qualitative data in any manner whatsoever.
Separately, your publication dated April 6th 2011 quotes Gurgaon’s population increase at 73.9% This is “15,14,085 in 2011 against 8,70,539 in 2001…density of population in the district is 1241 persons per sq km….Census officials said that Gurgaon hs registered highest population growth in the state…”
Using the questionable figures of dog bites reported at a steady 50, simple arithmetic shows this as 2% of the population in a very densely populated, rapidly expanding city. From pure epidemiology, this is a very impressive number, worthy of emulation anywhere. It means that the municipal corporation, NGOs and socially responsible citizens are not only engaged in a very committed manner, they are extremely successful too. An inference that I second.
2.The numerology driven reporters hinge on the number 50 going by their propensity to quote it for everything from dog bites to population of feral dogs to puppies birthed to survival rates.
Juggling the 50s however, the February 14th 7:08 a.m. report contradicts itself on population, which it claims as 50,000 in the first paragraph and in the succeeding bodycopy as 40,000. I envy the artistry with which your reporters flick numbers in large spans of 10,000 !
3.Between the September 2011 report and the one datelined February 2012 (07:08 a.m.) your publication endorses the fact that we have sterilized and vaccinated 4,000 dogs (from 22,000 to 18,000). This back-handed compliment underlines the World Health Organization’s assertion quoted by your publication on sterilization and vaccination as the best management of feral animals.
4.Mindless banter driven by an eye on attention by irresponsible and unthinking reporters apart, your esteemed publication insults the intelligence of anyone except a half wit. The stories are reported in a timeframe of an uncommonly cold February fortnight. It is reported from shanties which in India mean hastily put together close clustered temporary and tiny dwellings ; in this case of migrant labourers. Obviously without the luxury of separate bedrooms or dividing roads or cemented walls or privacy. In such a setting a pack of marauding dogs fantastically identify a dwelling unit, open the contraption which serves as a door, go in and take the boy out. And absolutely no one in the adjoining shanties or the parents and siblings or the victim even squeak.
5.The worthy deputy commissioner of police, who has a doctoral degree preceeding his name is shown as a clairvoyant, says : “ The post mortem report alone can confirm that the body parts were eaten by dogs”. Assuming that the ‘that’ is not a typo error, this man should be pulled off the case ; he ‘knows’ the outcome the post mortem. Once again, the bright reporters did not deign to ask him how he ‘knows’ or follow other leads because dogs excite better headlines.
6.The incident was reported with racy headlines in your editions, which mentioned the post mortem as well. Post mortem results which prove that the dogs are not the killers have been completely ignored. So much for objectivity, truth and the hallowed logo in your crest : “Let Truth Prevail”.
Sir, The Times of India commands high stature in the world of journalism and across public life in this country. As a former journalist and a concerned citizen, I regret this acerbic letter, but am pained and saddened at the downturn and plummeting standards of what now passes as journalism. I am not surprised, therefore, to see rag-tag tabloids go a step further. Excerpts from one are reproduced below. As an individual of intelligence, professionalism, ethics and experience, you do not need me to point out its third-rate fallacies. Those are apparent.
Mail Today E-paper, February 14th 2012 Dogs ‘feed on’ Gurgaon boy by Ajay Kumar
“A pack of street dogs mauled and killed a toddler in Gurgaon…in the most ferocious manner possible…”The poor parents of the boy were sleeping when the dogs dragged away the toddler. The mother said she last saw the boy around 2 a.m. to feed him. When she woke up around 5, she found him missing. People, however, pinned the blame on the mother. ‘She was his stepmother. She might have suffocated him and left him on the streets’ a neighbor said.”
Sincerely,
Amit Chaudhery, Gurgaon
