Comments on: AP gets a fail on plane crash article

By: Mina

Mina — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 03:08:30 +0000

Man, when I saw that article about Kaavya's parents, I felt so ashamed of myself for saying the stuff I had about her online after her plagiarism thing. I could not believe the cruel comments I saw in the NY Post (Scam girl's Tragedy was the headline).

The doc seemed like an amazing person in the medical community. I was so glad his colleagues and patients wrote such wonderful things about him. It sucks that there's one less neuro-oncologist in this world. And I feel so terrible for Kaavya, who I read is an only child. She just graduated from G--town law. I remember when I had just graduated from grad school and was out in the world on my own. To not have had my parents' advice would have been-I seriously can't even figure it out.

I can't believe how many journalists just went for the cheap shot.

By: kidpoker666

kidpoker666 — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:09:20 +0000

Dave Chapelle talks about this subject at length.

You can become infamous....but you can't become un-famous

Kavya will be "that girl who cheated on book deal blah blah" forever as charlie sheen will for "winning" and dave chapelle will for 'i'm rich bitch!"

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:21:35 +0000

Stupid. It's the sins of the fathers visited upon the children, not the other way around!

Also, pardon my superficialness, but Dr. Rajaraman looked kinda good. Tragic loss!

By: Johnny Unitas

Johnny Unitas — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:42:52 +0000

This is completely unfair. As I commented in the topic above about Harmon Raju, negative publicity lives with you forever. This man probably saved hundreds of lives through surgery and diagnosis, but that’s irrelevant. All that matters is a mistake his young daughter made half a decade ago. When something negative about you goes public, your reputation is tarnished forever. Which is why the first sentence of this new story had to mention “killing the parents of a former Harvard University student who lost a $500,000 book contract because parts of her first novel were copied from other works.” Interestingly, it takes three sentences before they even mention the names of these parents.

By: balaji

balaji — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 00:57:51 +0000

One of the casualties of modern journalism is the heightened need to publish racy and often shocking news. This article was indeed in poor taste and I hope AP issues an apology and retraction right away.

By: Neil

Neil — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 16:20:08 +0000

Since when have dead people ever wanted to be news??? My sympathies to the family, but it is normal to include something about the victims in a plane crash like this. Are you going to be calling out the AP every time they bring up something unpleasant about the dead? Or only when the color of their skin is brown?

By: Cronous

Cronous — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 00:17:25 +0000

@Melvin "Journalists need to tread carefully when reporting certain stories, especially when a family tragedy is involved."

Not when your in a recession and journalism is going down the tubes, in that case anything goes unless you want to stand in the unemployment line.

By: Pravin Praveen

Pravin Praveen — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 21:39:03 +0000

You guys realize that you see all kinds of “unknown” people in the news after a crash or even something like a burglary? So why do they have to highlight the infamous linkage so much to make it a story? It is a story on its own merits. Nothing wrong if they tie it in with the Kavya situation, but they seemed to spend a little too much ink on that part.

By: Writerzblock

Writerzblock — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 21:05:41 +0000

That is very sad , and like you so rightly pointed out, they could have focussed on the positives of the people who passed away, rather than the negatives of their daughter. Not fair at all. But this is how media sensationalises issues, isn’t it!!

By: ManufacturedContent

ManufacturedContent — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:13:32 +0000

And why should the death of this couple be any more newsworthy than others who die in plane crashes? Because they went to Harvard? Because they are doctors? They were the parents of a young woman who gained some significant press a few years ago. THAT is why it is newsworthy. Get off your high horse and stop being so thin-skinned.

Did the dead people WANT to be news? Did Kaavya?

AP decided to make this a news story by bringing in Kavya.

And this created news is hurtful to her, as many commentators have pointed out. And she has a right not to be hurt by news organizations.

There is no thin-skin here, just basic decency. It is pretty clear you don't understand what that means.