Enough is enough, The Times of India has decided. The big daddy of the Indian media has decided it is not going to take the beating it got recently from Deepika Padukone.
For the uninitiated, here’s the back story.
On 14 September, the Times of India’s entertainment section put out a tweet with a video of Deepika Padukone, with the comment, "OMG! Deepika Padukone's cleavage show!"
The actress tweeted back, "YES!I am a Woman.I have breasts AND a cleavage! You got a problem!!??" She further said, "Dont talk about Woman's Empowerment when YOU don't know how to RESPECT Women!"
The Times of India was unfazed. It replied, "It's a compliment! You look so great that we want to make sure everyone knew! :)”
It deleted the tweet soon enough, but it was too little too late. Refusing to apologise, the Times drew round condemnation, a gazillion outraged Tweets and a million op-eds.
Official response
Now, the paper has put out an official response that is simply a long-winded way of saying “she asked for it”.
The main problem with the rebuttal is that it pretends that the issue is the display of cleavage – which is not what Padukone objected to. The objection was to the words, "OMG! Deepika Padukone's cleavage show!” The rebuttal says, "The video's been on YouTube for a year, why object now?” Well, simply because Padukone never objected to the video but the accompanying text written by the Times of India.
This is what the paper says about those words: "Yes, the headline could have been better.” It should either decide to stand by that text or apologise for it. Instead, it has this lame defence: "But the world of online is very different from that of newspapers. It is chaotic and cluttered ‒ and sensational headlines are far from uncommon.”
Unacceptable line
That isn’t acceptable. In a “chaotic and cluttered” online world, surely we should at least be able to rely on established media brands to maintain propriety, decency and good taste? The Times of India cannot reduce itself to the lowest common denominator claiming that the medium made it do so. For years now, big brand publications have claimed that they are responsible organisations with editorial checks and balances, unlike unprofessional web publications. Where are these editorial checks and balances when tweeting about celebrities to get web hits?
The rebuttal shows that the largest English newspaper in India has no plans to grow up. It adds, "Deepika, who began her career as a 'calendar girl' for a liquor brand…” It’s like the worst kind of the personal attack.
The Times is clearly hurt by the controversy. It asks, "As for our friends in the media, we wonder if they'll henceforth stop carrying pictures of cleavages, including Deepika’s." Well, this controversy has certainly highlighted the need for everyone, including Bollywood itself, to ask some tough questions about the objectification of women.
For the uninitiated, here’s the back story.
On 14 September, the Times of India’s entertainment section put out a tweet with a video of Deepika Padukone, with the comment, "OMG! Deepika Padukone's cleavage show!"
The actress tweeted back, "YES!I am a Woman.I have breasts AND a cleavage! You got a problem!!??" She further said, "Dont talk about Woman's Empowerment when YOU don't know how to RESPECT Women!"
The Times of India was unfazed. It replied, "It's a compliment! You look so great that we want to make sure everyone knew! :)”
It deleted the tweet soon enough, but it was too little too late. Refusing to apologise, the Times drew round condemnation, a gazillion outraged Tweets and a million op-eds.
Official response
Now, the paper has put out an official response that is simply a long-winded way of saying “she asked for it”.
The main problem with the rebuttal is that it pretends that the issue is the display of cleavage – which is not what Padukone objected to. The objection was to the words, "OMG! Deepika Padukone's cleavage show!” The rebuttal says, "The video's been on YouTube for a year, why object now?” Well, simply because Padukone never objected to the video but the accompanying text written by the Times of India.
This is what the paper says about those words: "Yes, the headline could have been better.” It should either decide to stand by that text or apologise for it. Instead, it has this lame defence: "But the world of online is very different from that of newspapers. It is chaotic and cluttered ‒ and sensational headlines are far from uncommon.”
Unacceptable line
That isn’t acceptable. In a “chaotic and cluttered” online world, surely we should at least be able to rely on established media brands to maintain propriety, decency and good taste? The Times of India cannot reduce itself to the lowest common denominator claiming that the medium made it do so. For years now, big brand publications have claimed that they are responsible organisations with editorial checks and balances, unlike unprofessional web publications. Where are these editorial checks and balances when tweeting about celebrities to get web hits?
The rebuttal shows that the largest English newspaper in India has no plans to grow up. It adds, "Deepika, who began her career as a 'calendar girl' for a liquor brand…” It’s like the worst kind of the personal attack.
The Times is clearly hurt by the controversy. It asks, "As for our friends in the media, we wonder if they'll henceforth stop carrying pictures of cleavages, including Deepika’s." Well, this controversy has certainly highlighted the need for everyone, including Bollywood itself, to ask some tough questions about the objectification of women.
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