Reporter Files Report on Flood While Sitting on Shoulders of Victim
[There was a video here]
A veteran TV reporter has been fired from his job after he filed a report from the scene of a major flood while sitting on the shoulders of a victim in an apparent bid to avoid getting his clothes wet.
Footage of Narayan Pargaien's report for News Express went viral in India earlier this week, and ultimately led to the journalist's termination after 17 years on the job.
In the clip, which News Express says never aired, Pargaien can be seen reporting on the deadly floods that have submerged the northern state of Uttarakhand, forcing the evacuation of over 100,000 people.
Pargaien later claimed that the man, whose home was destroyed by floodwaters, offered to carry him on his shoulders, but News Express said in a statement that Pargaien should have declined.
"[S]uch an act by the reporter is a Grave misconduct which goes against [the] cultural values of our Channel," the statement read.
Cultural values are precisely the reason why this video has generated such strong feedback from viewers
With over 70 percent of India's population forced to get by on less than $2 a day [pdf], the rift between the upper and lower classes grows more prominent with each slight.
Pargaien appears to have signed his own pink slip when he patted himself on the back after the report for having made the man's day.
"His house was in a miserable condition and he had lost a lot in the flood, and was left with very little food and water," Pargaien told local media site News Laundry. "We helped him with some food and some money and he was grateful to us and wanted to show me some respect, as it was the first time someone of my level had visited his house."
