The stark contrast in media coverage between the murder of raja Raghuvanshi and the deaths of six commuters on Mumbai’s local trains exposes a troubling flaw in contemporary journalism. While every human life is invaluable and the murder case certainly deserves attention, the disproportionate focus it receives—driven by drama, emotion, and political intrigue—overshadows systemic tragedies that claim multiple lives with disturbing regularity. This selective spotlight reflects an obsession with sensationalism, where headlines are crafted not to inform the public but to chase ratings and clicks.
The tragic deaths on Mumbai’s overcrowded local trains are not isolated incidents—they are the result of chronic infrastructural negligence, lack of investment in public safety, and governmental apathy. These are preventable deaths, yet they are treated with deafening silence in mainstream discourse. Six lives were lost, and the victims were ordinary citizens whose daily struggles never make it to prime-time debates. Their suffering is invisible because it lacks the narrative flair that keeps audiences glued to their screens. This silence isn’t just an omission—it’s a moral failure of the press, which has a duty to hold those in power accountable for the conditions that lead to such repeated tragedies.
Media houses must be reminded that journalism is not entertainment; it is a public service. Ignoring the deaths of commuters in favor of endlessly recycling one high-profile case is not just biased—it’s unethical. It desensitizes the public to structural failures and deflects pressure from authorities who ought to answer for them. If the media cannot rise above clickbait culture and address the real issues that plague everyday citizens, then it has failed in its fundamental mission. The imbalance in outrage reveals a society where the spotlight follows noise, not need—and that should concern us all.
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