Of late I have observed great carelessness in newpapers, magazines, and other publications who seem to get away with almost anything that they print. I think people are too busy with their own lives to take note of errors, and have them rectified. And the magazines exploit this tendency. They feel that nothing they print will be questioned.
Recently I came across a photofeature in a prominent English magazine published from Delhi. It gave a totally wrong caption to one of the photographs, which showed Sardar Vallabhai Patel in serious converstion with one of the Indian princes during the integration of the Indian States. The prince was wrongly mentioned as being the Maharaja of Patiala, when in fact it was actually Maharaja Jagatjit Singh, the Francophile ruler of Kapurthala. I immediately sent them a letter, pointing out the mistake.
To the magazine's credit, I must add that they acknowledged the error and had my letter published in a subsequent issue. That was indeed very good of them and I appreciate their gesture.
