Pack journalism and the IPL
A.S. Pannerselvan from The Hindu sees the recent coverage of the IPL spot-fixing scandal as yet another example of pack journalism, yet this time, the coverage has begun to descend into a battle over morality and ethics
03-Jun-2013
In his column for The Hindu, A.S. Panneerselvan argues that the ongoing coverage of the IPL spot-fixing scandal has seemingly delved into pack journalism, a concept in which news agencies subscribe to the same story and arguments, and end up producing similar content. This has been employed to great effect with the Delhi gang rape and murder case in December 2012, but fails to capture what has transpired in the IPL, where each unfortunate event has been treated in isolation, and that the coverage has descended into a debate over ethics and morality.
It is not that there was no media coverage of these events. There was enough reportage. But, every story was limited in its scope of investigation and each of the above listed malaise was seen in isolation and dealt in isolation. Two important beats of modern journalism -- politics and business -- failed to even embark on a study to understand the diabolic convergence that was taking place in the name of cricket.