A little confused about men on Fire..

John's Incoherent Ramblings: Privatisation taken a step too far?

Rural firefighters stood by and watched a fire destroy a garage and a vehicle because the property owner, who was injured battling the flames, had not paid membership dues.

Monett Rural Fire Department Chief Ronnie Myers defended the policy, saying the membership-based organization could not survive if people thought the department would respond for free. The department said it will fight a fire without question if a life is believed to be in danger.

Monett Rural Fire Department responded to the scene but did not fight the fire. Firefighters stood by from the road as the fire burned itself out, watching in case the flames spread to neighboring properties owned by members.

[The home-owner] offered to pay ... but the Monett department does not have a policy for on-the-spot billing.

I Read an article on John's blog,and it reminded me about a recent incident that was highly debated on by the indian media and public. A man who tried immolating himself in public, and the cammeraman decided to shoot the footage and show it live on primetime television, rather than save the man's life.

Rajdeep Sardesai: Journalists or Fire-Fighters?

The latest debate on media ethics though is a little more complex. It's been sparked off by a news story that showed a man self-immolating in the heart of Patiala. The visual images were compelling: a trader with garlands around his neck, pouring kerosene over his body, and then set himself aflame. He was surrounded by a police man, fellow-traders, the aam janta and of course, the ubiquitous camera. There was a debate on CNN-IBN between celebrated photographer Raghu Rai and media watcher Akhila Sivadas that raised crucial questions. The two central ones: should the camera crew be focusing on saving the life of the man instead of keeping the camera rolling? Secondly, should television channels be showing the pictures in the first place as a lead story in the news?

Really makes me wonder what we as a human race value more! Its life on one side, Money, Entertainment,Memberships, Prime time news and live coverage on the other ? It looks like the latter is in the lead.