Jessica- Case Study on the Guardian

Guardian- Indian Tsunami Victims sold their kidneys to survive

In this article, there is talk about how the tsunami damage which has destroyed fishing fleets, has lead to tens of thousands of people penniless and for this reason, up to 150 people that consist mostly of women in the city of Chennai which is a part of South India, have been selling their organs for 50,000 rupees for another chance at life. Some people were being forced to remove their organs such as their kidneys and what is more surprising is that some government hospitals had these operations performed. India has prohibited organ sales but donations from relatives are allowed. Some women had resorted to prostitution to manage a distort life.

1.      From the looks of the article, the audience seems to be the every-day person which includes everyone. I believe that the writer is trying to convey a serious alert to the world for anyone who is willing to help. According to Maria Selvam, the leader of the local fishermen’s association in Ernavur, he knows “of at least twenty-five women who had sold their kidneys for less than 50,000 rupees.” This is a very touchy issue which should be known world-wide from the looks of the article.

2.      The ‘villains’ of the story are the people who are forcing others to sell their organs to raise money. No particular name or group has been mentioned but this is seriously a horrible crime to be making others go against their mind to sell organs. It is really sad to hear these things and action by the police should be taken to prevent this from happening to anyone else. Another villain is the government, who has been slow to help the people of Ernavur as there have been no schools or hospitals built and the camp which was supposed to accommodate 2,000 people has space for only 1,300 people. An aid worker said that “The state government has disregarded this community because it is a marginalized one. It would prefer the coast was used to build hotels, but the result is desperate people.

3.      The heroes of the story seem to be many groups. The police of southern India who are investigating and discovering these reports of sale of the human organs and trying to sort out the problems and put an end to this inhumane and illegal act according to India’s law system. Chennai’s police commissioner, Letika Saran, told reporters, “We have formed a special team which has started making preliminary inquiries with the women in Ernavur and will later spread our inquiries to other slums.” The UN human rights council can also be referred to as the heroes as they are looking into the matter also. They said “It was shocking. Even worse, some of these operations had been carried out in government hospitals.”

4.      There are quite a few differences from the Guardian’s coverage to the New York Times’ story. Some include the different timing from the event. The New York Times’ gives us a full insight on the tsunami actually happening and an immediate report after of the causalities whereas the Guardian introduces the few years after the Tsunami hit. It gives us the consequences and what happens to the lives of many who were affected by the Tsunami. How these people must find ways to survive without food, a home, and money. Another difference includes how the New York Times is more detailed and statistical about their reporting’s and writings unlike the Guardian which is more straightforward and gets right to the point of the story. An example that shows the quality is the headlines from both the newspapers. The Guardian has it, ‘Indian tsunami victims sold their kidneys to survive’, while the New York Times’ is ‘In Drowned village, Grim searches, Quick burials’. As you can see, with the Guardian, the title easily hints away the story but for the New York Times’, it isn’t so easily to determine the context of the entire story from the headlines.