Kerala Elephant Incident — From Blame to Accident
Recently a pregnant Elephant died (yet we can't affirmatively say ‘murdered’) in Kerala’s Malappuram, Mannarkad forest range by consuming a pineapple filled with explosives. The incident took place on May 27th, 2020. This is the second incident after April 2020 leaving the whole world in a state of hue and cry. Several articles have been published questioning the civic duty and inhumane act. All these perceptions have been formed either by reading on the newspapers (print or digital) or watching it on Live News run by several outlets. The authenticity of the information is so important as it forms as a base in creating fundamental perceptions and make us act/react towards an incident. Looking at the reporting of the same incident in media, the narrative is getting constantly changed. In this case, from blame to an accident.
Let us look at the reports published by various media outlets
June 2nd, 2020: Pregnant elephant dies allegedly after eating pineapple filled with crackers Fruits with firecrackers were offered by Locals
Same day but different speculations
June 4th, 2020: The news of a pregnant elephant that died in Kerala’s Palghat after she ate a fruit stuffed with explosives, allegedly left by some locals
June 4th, 2020: Officials said there was a strong possibility that the elephant fell victim to a snare laid to kill wild boars and pigs. “In the forest fringes, there have been reports of crackers and country-bombs being used to trap and kill pigs and other wild animals. It could be that the elephant accidentally ate it,” an official said.
June 4th, 2020: The angle of whether someone intentionally gave the elephant the fruit-laced explosive is being probed. But the strong possibility before the officials is that it could have been a snare laid to kill wild boars and pigs.
While on Facebook, a victim of a mob lynching incident in 2018 was branded as the elephant killer. This was revealed by India Today’s Anti-fake news war room.
June 4th, 2020: Fact check: This man is not the killer of pregnant elephant in Kerala
Coconut or Pineapple?
June 6th, 2020: Kerala elephant death: Police say cracker-stuffed coconut used, hunt on for 2 more suspects
June 6th, 2020: Officials identify 3 accused, 1 arrested
Amidst tragedy, the spread of fake news is on the rise. Top 5 fake news was fact-checked.
June 6th, 2020: 5 Fake News Debunked Related to Death of Kerala Pregnant Elephant
An accident
June 8th, 2020: Elephant may have accidentally eaten cracker filled fruit
June 8th, 2020: Kerala Elephant accident: Elephant May have accidentally…
June 9th, 2020: Elephant may have accidentally consumed
What happened to this Elephant can happen again. Wait! Happened.
June 9th, 2020: 12 Narikuravars held for killing jackal by stuffing explosive inside meat
June 9th, 2020: 13 monkeys found dead in Assam water reservoir. Forest officials suspected that miscreants might have poisoned the reservoir with an ulterior motive.
We remember our teachers during tough times. This is one such moment. One of my teachers once quoted Mark Twain
“If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re misinformed.”
and said “That’s because of the need to be first and not having the need to be true”. Pearls of Wisdom. So true!
The take on Speculative Journalism was excellently covered in a New York Times article where the author Christy Wampole states “speculation is neither true nor false, it seems to work as a strange compromise, a third way that shelves, for now, the question of what is real and true” The intent of this article is not to undermine the efforts of various personnel involved from actioning to reporting but to uncover the speculative/narrative of an incident that might instigate the sentiments of people causing widespread hatred and anger, eventually leading to violence. Investigations can reveal details but speculative news shouldn’t, at least in the main section. Before running a story, should media outlets fact check first? Absolutely. Instead of guessing what might have happened, what did happen should be the main priority. Speculations can be reserved for the Opinion section.
Unless we follow a story end to end, we will not be able to actually understand what really happened. This is for people who read or watch news somedays. So, what can be done? Like how Dads say, “Read the news daily” and maybe we can figure out what really happened. In this case, let us patiently wait until authorities conduct a thorough investigation and provide us the evidence-based conclusive report.
