Mad Momma voices what we all feel- we shall not be silenced:

After a long time I blog with a very heavy heart. We’ve spoken about mainstream media robbing images and ideas and plagiarising from blogs. But this takes the cake. Mainstream media targets a single blogger for his opinion of their reporting. This considering not just the blogosphere but many senior print journalists, including Vir Sanghvi, condemned the coverage. But they don’t have the courage to take on a name like Vir Sanghvi. No sirree… Lets pick on the small guy instead.

Sscribbles is flabbergasted:

I believe Barkha should check the Facebook group against her which has thousands of members. Being a journalist myself, I respect my profession and the ethics that we follow while reporting a story.

Abhishek republishes Kunte’s original post and urges all bloggers to do the same:

Appalling journalism. Absolute blasphemy! As I watch the news from home, I am dumbfounded to see Barkha Dutt of NDTV break every rule of ethical journalism in reporting the Mumbai mayhem. Take a couple of instances for example:In one instance she asks a husband about his wife being stuck, or held as a hostage. The poor guy adds in the end about where she was last hiding. Aired! My dear friends with AK-47s, our national news is helping you. Go get those still in. And be sure to thank NDTV for not censoring this bit of information.

Aristotle The Geek points out the obvious to those, like NDTV, who feel defamed, or that their reputation has been lowered by someone else exercising his/her freedom of speech- reputation is strictly a function of the subjective opinions of other minds. Has the bloggers’ opinion on NDTV gone up by the said channel’s browbeating methods?

We are a philosophically and ideologically bankrupt nation. And so I don’t expect any media organization in the country to practice what they preach – its one rule for themselves, another for the rest of the world. I think NDTV should apologize to Kunte for what they did. That’s the only way this damage can be contained, if it can be contained at all. The shit is piling up all over the blogosphere and no right-thinking individual will patronize the channel if they don’t. And that’s my opinion. In any case, I haven’t watched 24×7 in over six months; I do watch NDTV India sometimes. But now that this has happened, its the end of NDTV as far as I am concerned. Regardless of what happens in the future, I won’t touch the channel even with a ten-foot bargepole. (emphasis mine)

Goofy Mamma warns you- Barkha Dutt Padh Legi!

So the blog world is not really the space for free expression like I thought it is. I am not really allowed to express my opinion freely, especially if it is against Barkha Dutt. Evidently freedom of expression only applies to the press, no matter how irresponsible their behaviour.

Cacophoenix believes media companies have fallen for their own grandiose verbiage and have managed to create their own morality:

As generalized a statement as this might be, my irritation and displeasure is targeted primarily at those few channels which have built an empire and have become these huge corporations that have managed to hold some kind of soft power in the governmental institutions, the very same they are supposed to report on objectively and have crossed the line to the point where their reporting no longer educates the public, but infuriates a majority and no longer is unbiased and non prejudiced. This is actually a bigger problem that it might seem.

In a short, but very articulate post, The Ech Aar Manager tells NDTV what’s wrong with NDTV’s attitude:

NDTV….and more precisely the great Ms. B. Dutt have decided that since they cant do a proper job of reporting, they shall behave like the R Sena and the S Sena and beat up anyone who point out their mistake.