Amitabh's Tirade Against Times Journalist

This is the post in which Amitabh Bachchan rails against Bharti Dubey of the Times Group. Not for nothing was he called the "Angry Young Man." He is chagrined because the journalist published a story titled 'Bbuddah co producer apologizes to Raj Thakeray' in yesterday's newspaper.

I would say he has a right to defend himself. The blog is his private space and when he feels attacked he has a right to clarify things on his blog. However the report (from a neutral unbiased point of view) seems to be an opinion piece, not an analysis of the situation, or, one that gives the complete picture. Emotions should not over-ride objectivity (as if newspapers are objective these days!). I feel more clarity was called for instead of just accusing a journalist of having a bias against the entire Bachchan family.

I think both Bharti and Amitabh are at fault. Here's the report in Times of India. Journalism is all about balance of viewpoints and the reporter should have contacted Amitabh for his quote. True, she mentions that he was not available for comment. However, in this day of multiple channels of communication why is a newspaper disadvantaged when it comes to contacting somebody as prominent as Amitabh. And, on his part, Amitabh also didn't clarify the issues with MNS and Raj Thackeray.

What we see is the media in a mad rush to make the story and of the aggrieved target to make a refutation.