Being a journalist is not an easy job. One has to constantly be on the lookout for problematic statements and analogies while reporting, and that can get tricky. Especially, when one potentially has a hidden set of biases, it can be all too difficult to hide them in the backdrop of public discourse.

via GIPHY

NPR's India correspondent Lauren Frayer clearly didn't get that memo, as is evident from her recent social media gaffe. Lauren tweeted a video of a train burglary in LA, where looted stuff was strewn all around - right from unopened Amazon packages to COVID testing kits. However, it was the caption she used that ended up triggering the entirety of desi Twitter, and rightfully so.

At first glance, I thought this was India https://t.co/b4aP0Xzxes

— Lauren Frayer (@lfrayer) January 14, 2022

Lauren, in her tweet, used the caption: 'At first glance, I thought this was India' - and got flooded with sassy responses by Indians immediately, who were having none of this unjustified, pointless bias on their feeds. Take a look at some of them here.

At first glance, I thought this was India https://t.co/b4aP0Xzxes

— Lauren Frayer (@lfrayer) January 14, 2022

Le Rihanna and Greta* pic.twitter.com/FSiJWY1Via

— Bankock wale (@madarnia_gandhi) January 15, 2022

Well, you won’t find such thievery in India. We litter. Not steal out trains. It’s all American characteristic I guess!

— Leo Saldanha (@leofsaldanha) January 15, 2022

Some people took it really personally, and went all up in arms, but one would say the harm here qualifies as self-inflicted, won't they!

pic.twitter.com/vNcoEAcWiz

— Long Live The People (@LongLive_ThePpl) January 15, 2022

And At second glance, you realised "oh, it's a mirror" ....

— Abey Kuruwila (@kuruwila) January 15, 2022

If this is the sort of thing you say when you know thousands of people are watching, I can't begin to imagine what you're like in private.

— Jingalls (@Jinga11s) January 15, 2022

Even at first glance, I didn't think you were journalist.

— Sivaram Pratapa (@SivaramPratapa) January 14, 2022

While people are amazed that such a blatant display of not so hidden bias is still out there at large, they find it almost unbelievable that she still has not deleted that tweet. Some people even expressed their concern over the fact that if she can be this brazen on a public platform in terms of having personal biases against the same country that she corresponds to, what she must believe or express is private is anybody's guess. While public bashing or trolling of anyone is uncalled for, perhaps journalists should do better in terms of editing their opinions dispassionately while keeping their personal biases aside, in order to avoid it.

View the full article