Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore took to Twitter to call out NDTV for using a misleading and unrelated picture for a story on child lifting hoax. The controversial media house used a violent mob’s image to depict an unrelated incident occurred at Maharashtra’s Dhule.
.@ndtv, this is what misleading news & propaganda luks like. Usng an old, unrelated picture for d news related to child lifting hoax.
As custodians of free speech, we expct bttr frm our media. No wonder media has a crisis of credibility of its own making. https://t.co/3E6E9bbAig
— Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) July 6, 2018
Rathore talked came down heavily on NDTV and gave a lesson on how propaganda looks like. He said how using an old and unrelated image for a story on child lifting hoax was unfair and as custodians of free speech, the viewers expect better from the media. He even pointed out that how such instances has led to a crisis of credibility in the Indian media.
The NDTV had used a picture of a different incident altogether to depict the horrific incident occurred in Dhule of Maharashtra.
As soon as the Union Minister called out the channel, the channel changed the image, without issuing any clarification. This time they had used the real image related to the incident. Rathore again lashed out on NDTV for not even acknowledging the error, let alone apologising for it.
This, @ndtv, is exactly why you have a credibility crisis. After my tweet, you CHANGED the image, without even ACKNOWLEDGING your error, let alone apologizing for it. Despicable. pic.twitter.com/17lzv1EqRZ
— Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) July 6, 2018
After being pointed out by the Information and Broadcasting Minister, the channel apologised and issued a statement regarding the incident.
The incorrect image was removed immediately from our website. We at https://t.co/Fbzw6n8LeF apologise for the error. It should not have happened.
— NDTV (@ndtv) July 6, 2018
NDTV has been under the radar for alleged financial irregularities as well as being soft towards the Islamic terrorism in the country.