Blame the rules, not the player

I'm not a big fan of American Idol. Haven't seen a single episode, or for that matter five minutes of that program at a stretch. But have found it difficult to ignore the controversy and the umpteen news reports and programs about the 'spectacular survival' of Sanjaya Malakar!

For those reading this from India, essentially what happened in Indian Idol is being repeated here - one guy doesn't do very well, but there are innumerable votes cast in his favor (presumably by one - here the Indian - community), and so he keeps going through. For readers from other countries, I guess you get the drift.

While everyone has the right to express their opinion on his talent or lack thereof, what i find irritating is the way the media's attention is focused on the boy himself. He has all but been made an object of ridicule, and is being showcased almost as a 'fraud' who is where he doesn't deserve to be.

What I find surprising, even objectionable, is the total lack of focus on the rules of the competition.

If the rules themselves are so loose as to allow a person to cast multiple votes in favor of one contestant, then who is to blame for the multiple votes coming in? The person who casts the votes? The person who gets the votes? Or the rules themselves?

The moral aspect of the question apart, there is nothing that can be shown to be wrong, in what the person who is casting the multiple votes, is doing. He is absolutely playing by the rules

Beyond that, there is nothing to indicate that the beneficiary of the votes has anything to do with the voting process either. So it seems odd that the media calls him a fraud.

So if the voting process is being abused, it is because it is structured in a way susceptible to abuse. And at this stage, you can either cry foul about the abuser and the beneficiary of the abuser, or try to fix the process to prevent the abuse.

Unfortunately the media seems to be dedicating all its energy on doing the former; and there is no indication that it has even occured to them, to think about the latter.

And no, I'm not saying or writing this because I'm an Indian. (Malakar fyi is only half Indian). I'm saying this because I find the media's focus and reporting to be repulsive.