'The News Broadcasting Standards Authority has ordered the TV channel to air an apology at 10 pm on an issue pertaining to its #CongBharatMataClaim debate... Republic TV is supposed to tender an apology tonight at 10 for a broadcast from March this year. The issue pertains to a primetime debate, #CongBharatMataClaim, where the anchor Arnab Goswami, with the help of a panellist, Shantanu Gupta, cornered another panellist, Faheem Baig, into chanting “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”...'
'In what it claimed was an “exclusive story”, broadcast at around 3.30 pm on October 11, the Times Now channel claimed that Pakistani social media accounts were responsible for the hashtag #GoBackModi trending on Twitter ahead of the Prime Minister’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Chennai... Though many media reports claimed that Pakistani users were behind trending #GoBackModi in India, Twitter trends are region-specific. This means that for a topic to trend in India, users from India need to tweet on the issue.
'On October 7, Times Now channel’s “India Upfront” programme claimed that the Congress was attempting to present a “counter-narrative to the RSS view of history” by circulating a 128-page booklet among its members. Few should have any objection to the idea of pushing back against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s majoritarian view of history, which, in many instances, involves grave misrepresentations of fact, deliberate distortions and, on occasion, complete fabrications.
'A ‘hate speech’ by a Central Reserve Police Force constable during a debate organised by the National Human Rights Commission won a consolation prize on September 27. It also went viral on social media and while many criticised the harsh language used by the officer, some television channels chose to support her. The debate was on ‘terrorism and militancy in the country can be tackled effectively while observing human rights’. Two parts of Constable Khushboo Chauhan’s speech stood out.
'Ahead of a press conference on October 4, the Indian Air Force released a promotional video about the Balakot airstrike that was carried out in February on a target in Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack. However, several media outlets reported the representational video as real footage that offered evidence of the airstrike in Pakistan. At the time of the attack, there had been some scepticism about what targets India had actually struck. While India said its bombs had destroyed a terror training camp, Pakistan claimed that only some trees had been hit.
'India’s public broadcasting agency, Prasar Bharati has initiated disciplinary proceedings against an assistant director of programme in Chennai, R. Vasumathi for allegedly failing to telecast a speech by PM Modi live on DD Podhigai...'
'Hindutva groups in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu disrupted the filming of action-comedy Sulthan, starring Karthi and Rashmika Mandanna and directed by Bakkiyaraj Kannan, because they thought it was a biopic of Tipu Sultan. The film was being shot near an Archaeological Survey of India protected site on Tuesday night, when members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindu Munnani arrived and staged protests. A police officer told the Indian Express that while there was no damage, the shooting schedule was disrupted. “They were in the final stage of shooting.
'Oru Chaayakadakarante Mann ki Baat (Mind Matter of a Tea Vendor), an award-winning Malayalam documentary about the hardships of a tea seller after demonetisation, was supposed to be screened at the Kerala Club in New Delhi on Monday. The event was cancelled at the last minute, though, allegedly after Sangh parivar members threatened members of the club. According to The Telegraph, organisers were told not to screen the movie because it shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi “in bad light”. The screening was going to be followed by a discussion on the economic crisis...'
'How India's most widely read newspaper published a highly misleading and inflammatory article... On September 19, readers of Dainik Jagran, the most widely read newspaper in the country, woke up to a disconcerting headline: “Having lost one daughter to love jihad, second one now in danger”. This appeared in the city section of the newspaper and concerned a series of events that took place in Sangam Vihar — a densely populated low-income neighbourhood in South Delhi. “The roots of love jihad are fast spreading in the tense lanes of Sangam Vihar,” read the opening line.
'While government departments routinely respond to reports and articles in the media by clarifying the official position, the Union home ministry has gone one step further and demanded “action against all concerned” for an opinion piece in a national daily that it tendentiously labeled ‘misinformation’. Writing in the Indian Express on September 4, lawyer Gopal Sankaranarayanan had questioned the legality of the process adopted by the Narendra Modi government in diluting Article 370 of the constitution which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
