Mr Goliath, every action has a ten times large reaction
Yes, that is the first law of internet today. I thought all of us know that pretty well. The recent episode of NDTV vs Chyetanya Kunte just goes on to prove how badly Indian mainstream media does not get it.
Background
On 26th of November, Mr Chyetanya Kunte did not like the way Barkha Dutt of NDTV was covering the mumbai terrorist attack. Angry and furious he wrote his views about lack of professionalism in Barkha Dutt’s reporting of the event and it could have endangered the lives of the hostages. This post is not about the merits of that post. This post is about what NDTV seems to have done since then and a simple lesson that all big companies will do well to learn.
Chyetanya Kunte retracts his post and issues a public apology
This is when things became tense again as it was obvious from Kunte’s apology post that he was posting it under some sort of legal threat. I personally think the company should have just asked him to remove the offending post and then left it there. Unfortunately they seem to have asked him to post the apology letter and make it clear to everyone who is calling the shots.
A lone blogger is not a lone blogger. Not anymore
Their reasoning is simple. If we can send a 35 page legal notice to a poor lone blogger what can he do. Poor felow will have no option but to take down the article and publish a public apology for saying that XYZA is not God.
Their reasoning is right. Only that it does not reckon with the power of google cache, twitter and the connectedness of the blogosphere. What they forgot to forsee is that the removal of the post will do more harm to the reputation of NDTV and Barkha Datt than when it was posted. Many popular bloggers have already written about it here, here, here and here.
The Long-tail is yet to strike
The long tail of Indian blogosphere are just getting aware of this episode. Wait till the 6000 strong indiblogger community starts to write about it. It will be funny to see how many legal notices NDTV can serve.
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I will cover it as well and I will heap disdain on Barkha Dutt as well as NDTV. Lets see them send a notice to somebody in US.
Chyetanya Kunte, you have the support of online publishers!
[...] Sita on NDTV’s lack of foresight: A lone blogger is not a lone blogger. Not anymore [...]
I have posted this fellow’s original article on my site here –
http://www.techbanyan.com/3507/chyetanya-kunte-burkha-dutt-ndtv/
I used to respect Barkha Dutt some years back. Not any longer. If someone voices their discontent about the media, these channels spend their time glorifying the “freedom of press” and “their rights”. Since they do not do what they are supposed to do, and someone airs his views, they tried to silence him.You have your hands more than full! Good luck silencing all the bloggers and serving them notices NDTV!