By Anil Merani: Team Eisha Singh has taken a direct dig at the fourth estate for unfairly targeting her younger brother Rudraksha during the upcoming Bigg Boss 18 media round with contestant family members. The post-age shames the scribe for asking the poor boy tough questions, highlighting the power imbalance in such situations.
The heat and brimstone began when a promo dropped which showed a reporter asking Rudraksh, “Ek quality batao jis hisaab se Eisha ko game jeetna chahiye. (Name one quality of Eisha, based on which she should win the game).” Rudraksh firmly replies, “Main ek kya, 5 bataunga. Pehli baat, unki jo priorities hain, humesha se, shuru se clear rahi hai. Unke jo relations hain wo badle nahi hai kabhi bhi. (I won’t just tell one, I’ll tell five. First thing, her priorities have always been clear, from the very beginning. Her relationships have never changed),” he said. Shilpa Shinde then mocked Eisha by mimicking her and said, “Oh, we are just friends.” Rudraksh then hit back and said, “Ye log Eisha ko down karne aaye hain. Ladki kare kya? (These people have come to bring Eisha down. What should the girl do?)”.
Team Eisha then put the above Instagram story in Rudransh’s defense
Here is our two pence worth1
Why did Team Eisha then send a ‘kid’ into battle? Have they not seen previous media rounds where other contestants have also been thoroughly grilled? This raises the crucial question of fairness in media treatment. Why did they think their representative would be offered special treatment?
Also, we expect better behaviour from young liberal celebs; age shaming is so yesterday it is like water off a duck’s back.
As for the scribes, they have to take the rough with the smooth. Once you enter Bigg Boss, you are fair game. By the same token, Eisha, too, is at full liberty to use her SM media to vent her spleen.
Now, coming to the broader question, till a few years back, the media was regarded as an impartial player. But of late, the perception has changed.
Social media has allowed journalists to express their thoughts outside the restrictions of newsrooms. Still, it has also led to losing the veneer of neutrality, a pressing issue that needs redressal.
And with PR teams asking journalists to tweet/post in favour of particular contestants, the pitch has indeed been queered.
And here, let me be very frank: some journalists crossed the ethical lines during the recent Bigg Boss internship. It appeared that they had some personal agenda against specific contestants.
Such actions have created distrust in lay viewers’ minds, who don’t understand the fine distinction between paid PR, which is promotional content paid for by the contestants, and legitimate media, which is supposed to be unbiased and objective. At some points, both roles can overlap as well.
One alarming trend is that certain fans threaten individual journalists, which is unacceptable. The affected scribes ideally should file an FIR, but practically speaking, does anyone have time for all this?