Indian media’s reporting standards are by and large dubious to say the least. Virtually every day some or the other media house has some or the other “erroneous” report. We have been tracking most such reports here. But rarely do multiple media houses go wrong on the same day. And today, 5th January 2017 was that day. Multiple media house’s put out stories which ranged from the banal to the bizarre and social media had a field day:
1. No Business Standard, Sundar Pichai did not mean “Air India” when he said “AI”:
If Business Standard can interpret AI as Air India, then I know another way we can interpret BS. pic.twitter.com/kILLF5tB4Y
— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) January 5, 2017
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
BS: Google poised to be the biggest Income Tax company in the world. pic.twitter.com/Iw0DUnpK7G
— Paid CM 50 Crores (@gbkansara) January 5, 2017
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
2. No, The Hindustan Times, a biopic doesn’t improve the performance of a sportsperson!!!
#MSDhoni Movie fame useless, Dhoni loses in first round of Weightlifting. pic.twitter.com/aJdHtz1E8a
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) January 5, 2017
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Journalism degrees useless, HT still posts shit https://t.co/HLuv5dpqPs
— Gappistan Radio (@GappistanRadio) January 5, 2017
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
3. Does this really qualify to be a “news alert” NDTV?
News has been truly dumbed down to cater to lower than the lowest common denominator. This is a “News Alert”? #MSM #India pic.twitter.com/i1eHorqxOo
— কাঞ্চন গুপ্ত (@KanchanGupta) January 5, 2017
4. And India Today also joined the gang, with their Twitter handle dedicated to reporting news related to “technology”, tweeting this:
While @ndtv is fearlessly “Breaking News”, @IndiaToday is boldly bringing us news on cutting edge technology of the future. #MSM #India pic.twitter.com/tnSNkLVKsv
— কাঞ্চন গুপ্ত (@KanchanGupta) January 5, 2017
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Yes! This is tech news. Well done. https://t.co/SUyzgYb8ZH
— Chaitanya Prabhu (@ChaaiP) January 5, 2017
The next time some media person talks about the high standards of Indian journalism, they ought to be shown the above!