By Moody Marty | Opening Doorz Editorial | March 30, 2025
Five years. Five years of character assassination, of trial by television, of public shaming so visceral it could curdle milk.
Five Years of Character Assassination
Five years, and the CBI, with the glacial pace of bureaucracy, finally declares: Rhea Chakraborty is innocent.
Cue the crickets.
Or, rather, the awkward shuffle of feet, the sudden onset of selective amnesia, and the faint, almost inaudible, “Oops, my bad” from a Zee News owner on X. The rest of the media, those purveyors of truth, those paragons of journalistic integrity, have seemingly misplaced their vocal cords.
After all, they are busy counting the TRPs, bonuses, and fat raises they received for their “investigative journalism,” which funded their summer vacations, children’s private schools… and even visits to fancy restaurants to ‘celebrate’ justice.
Remember the fevered debates? The breathless pronouncements? The “experts” who emerged from the woodwork, their credentials as dubious as a three-dollar bill, opining on everything from toxicology to occult practices
The Circus of Television News
One particularly enthusiastic anchor, so convinced of his righteousness that he practically vibrated with self-importance: “I told you he screamed!” as if channeling a theatrical Shakespearean ghost when Rhea was jailed. Happy with him as he punched his fists in the air, spittle dripping from his lips, was a motley crew of “analysts” and “friends of friends,” who nodded sagely. On the panel were also some out-of-work Bollywood actors… smiling with a passion so devious, it bordered on the repulsive. Their faces were etched with the smug satisfaction of having solved a mystery that the police couldn’t.
Ah, the circus. The glorious, grotesque circus that is Indian television news.
A spectacle of sound and fury, signifying absolutely nothing. Clowns in tailored suits, their faces painted with righteous indignation, their voices amplified to deafening levels, performing their daily routine of character assassination and sensationalism.
The lions of logic were long ago declawed, the tightrope walkers of truth had fallen off, and the ringmaster, the ever-present anchor, cracked the whip of hysteria, urging the audience to bay for blood. There were incessant debates within homes and on social media.
Print Media’s Descent…
The print media, once the bastion of reasoned discourse, has largely joined the clown car. The veneer of respectability has cracked, revealing the grubby reality beneath. Headlines screamed like tabloid fodder, articles dripped with innuendo, and the presumption of innocence was thrown out the window like yesterday’s garbage.
The search for truth was overshadowed by the search for clicks, and the quest for justice was replaced by a craving for sensationalism.
And at the centre of this macabre performance, a human being—Rhea Chakraborty. A woman stripped bare, her reputation shredded, and her life turned into a public spectacle. The vultures descended, their talons sharp, their beaks dripping with venom. Every word she uttered, every tear she shed, and every gesture she made was dissected, analysed, and twisted to fit the narrative of guilt. The mob, whipped into a frenzy by the media’s relentless campaign, demanded her head.
The “investigation” became a witch hunt, a modern-day Salem, with Rhea cast as the scapegoat for a nation’s collective grief and outrage. The irrationality and hysteria surrounding the process were shameful. Lack of due process was hijacked. There was a complete disregard for individual rights. The media, in their insatiable hunger for drama, forgot that behind the headlines, the soundbites, and the sensational accusations, there was a person, a life, a soul.
The Power and Impunity of Media
As the dust settles and the CBI’s verdict reverberates through the empty halls of journalistic integrity, the silence is overwhelming. There are no apologies, no introspection, and no acknowledgment of the significant damage caused. Instead, there is just the quiet rustle of papers and the click of keyboards as they move on to the next sensation, the next victim.
The circus moves on, its clowns ever eager to entertain, its audience ready to be manipulated. And Rhea Chakraborty, after five years of hell, is left to pick up the pieces, to rebuild a life shattered by the very institutions that were supposed to uphold justice and truth.
The lesson, if there is one, is a grim reminder of the power of the media, its ability to shape public opinion, to destroy lives, and to operate with impunity.
The clowns may have removed their makeup, but the stench of their performance lingers, evidence of the grand guignol of guilt that played out on our television screens.
And in the silence, one can almost hear the faint, haunting echo of a question: Who will hold the media accountable?
Footnote: Editors with souls, if there are any left, should write an op-ed condemning the spectacle that tore a human and her family from within.
[Moody Marty: Sometimes funny, sometimes informative, always downright forthright!]
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Image Credit: Rhea Chakraborty/Instagram