“How many of you here volunteer to donate blood?” This question wouldn’t have drawn any attention in, say, an emergency hospital setting, but it was unexpected at a press conference. The person asking the question was a Central government Minister, who had just announced a series of ‘humanitarian programmes’ to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 70th birthday celebrations on September 17, 2020.
The act of donating blood is undoubtedly noble as it helps save lives. Most blood donors do this voluntarily. But for journalists sitting there, the question suddenly threw up a dilemma. We were there to report the programmes being announced, not volunteer to participate in them. Some of us wondered, how much involvement with a story is too much? Should we become part of the news that we were reporting? And what causes demand a journalist to switch roles from reporter to someone involved in the story? The tussle between professional ethics and empathy, though these categories are not mutually exclusive, is something journalists face with every story.
The blood donation programme, to be organised by the Union Health Ministry, aims to bring over one lakh units of blood into blood banks across the country. As soon as he made the announcement, the Minister wanted a show of hands to know how many would be willing to be part of this donation. Following the question, hands shot up and some judgmental eyes scanned the room, which was packed with reporters and Ministry staff. The Minister presented the programme as “our” contribution to the humanitarian work being done by the Prime Minister.
