Manu Bhaker made Indians across the world proud by winning a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in 10m air pistol. This was India’s first medal at the 2024 Olympics, making Bhaker the first Indian female shooter to win an Olympic medal. Such an incredible feat at just 22 years of age!
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As congratulations poured in from everywhere, the Founder and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, Nita Ambani, decided to congratulate Manu Bhaker. Her statement was shared on social media by leading news and media house ANI. However, instead of sharing Manu Bhaker’s picture, which would have been the appropriate thing to do, they shared Nita Ambani’s picture only.
Ideally, there were two things ANI could have done – share Bhaker’s picture only or a collage of the two women. Considering Bhaker’s outstanding achievement at the Olympics 2024, it is only fair to let her shine under the spotlight, which she is undoubtedly deserving of. To use Nita Ambani’s picture only to share this news somehow undermines Bhaker’s achievement.
This was pointed out by several people online who thought what ANI did was wrong, ethically and journalistically. Here’s what some of them had to say:
ANI begging for some crumbs from Nita Ambani.
— Shirin Khan (@ShirinKhan0) July 28, 2024
Why are showing her pic instead of Manu Bhaker’s?
— Franklin Das (@franklindasjv) July 28, 2024
I did not know Manu Bhaker was Anant Ambani’s mother 🤷🏻
— 𝗡𝗶𝗵𝗮𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗮𝗶 MD, DM (@nihardesai7) July 28, 2024
You should at least use a picture of Manu Bhaker. What relevance does Nita Ambani have in this context?
— Mandeep Singh Bajwa (@MandeepBajwa) July 28, 2024
Manu bhaker won the medal not Ambani.
— The mood doctor (@Chulbulpanda420) July 28, 2024
https://t.co/8RnwfxEWnl pic.twitter.com/KMgsKmCsTc
— Mao Shichigan (@weAllGonnaDye) July 28, 2024
Wrong picture ANI https://t.co/t3Y2AJMRGb pic.twitter.com/w2syDFO5Ad
— Manish (@rmanish1) July 28, 2024
https://t.co/NlU86JjkKj pic.twitter.com/ZeBxQQXoHE
— Shilpak. (@ugach_kahitarii) July 28, 2024
So we are going to have her face on every congratulatory message and not the athlete
— Ekta Chauhan (@ekta2993) July 28, 2024
A lot of people were reminded of an event after the Tokyo Olympics 2020, where Indian athletes were felicitated by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. In the banner used as the backdrop, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s picture was larger than any of the athletes, including that of Neeraj Chopra who won gold in the Javelin Throw.
Medal winners deserve better treatment and should be treated more respectfully, don’t you think?