The burning topic in Andhra Pradesh news for days has been the alleged affair between Vijayasai Reddy and Shanthi.
Although both have denied any involvement, the media, taking the argument of Shanthi's ex-husband, has continued to portray it as a sensational story.
Adding to that, the thumbnails and headlines are unimaginably vulgar.
How can a Scheduled Tribe woman be targeted like this? If she proceeds to file cases against these media houses in the Supreme Court, the channels would be in trouble.
Surprisingly, it’s not just YouTube channels getting involved in this ruckus but mainstream media houses as well.
Here, the point is that technically there is no serious legal issue, with public interest, involved in this.
Shanthi's ex-husband has no reason to know the identity of the child's father once Shanthi confirmed that he is not the father in the first place.
Moreover, he has no right to fight against the affair of his wife with any other man, as a relationship with mutual consent is not a crime anymore in India, irrespective of marital status.
The point here is that the same section of the mainstream media that made a hue and cry about YouTuber Praneeth’s vulgar crime is now engaging in a similar act against an ST woman.
What is the difference between Praneeth’s crime and the actions of this section of the mainstream media? That’s the question now.
On the other hand, coming to Telangana news, the focus is all about Raj Tharun and Lavanya.
The mainstream channels hardly pay attention to floods or the national budget and its allotments to the respective states. Though that stuff is covered, the major chunk of airtime is devoted to nonsensical affair news.
The channels are calling on Raj Tarun’s parents, friends, and others for interviews to speak out on the burning affair story. This is the plight of mainstream media in Telugu states at present.
Probably, as the TV channels are relying more on internet views on par with TRPs these days, they are stooping to this level to garner traction from netizens.
Usha Chowdhary