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Media Watch

Warning Signs

These are dangerous times for journalists. At least seven journalists were injured and one shot at, during the clashes in northeast Delhi. The sharp polarisation of society, fuelled by politicians and their divisive messages, has led to a situation where angry mobs of lumpen elements have started targeting journalists, beating them up and snatching their phones and notebooks, in order to avoid being identified.

In a strong statement, the Editors Guild of India said: “We have little doubt the attackers actively sought to prevent videography or photography that may lead to them being identified. A lethargic police and politicians instigating communal violence cannot escape blame for attacks on the media.”

Akash, a correspondent for JK 24×7 News was shot at in east Delhi’s Maujpur. Four NDTV reporters and cameramen were assaulted by what the news channel described as “armed mobs” and said that no policemen were present when they were being attacked. Reporter Arvind Gunasekar lost three teeth in a barrage of blows while cameraperson Saurabh Shukla was hit with iron rods.

A Times of India photojournalist was asked to prove by angry mobs if he was a Hindu. Other reporters had their phones checked and photos or videos deleted.

As Shukla recounts: “They saw my surname—Shukla. I also showed them my rudraksha to prove my religion. This was the saddest part for me—to have to prove my religion to save my life. They made us chant religious slogans and warned that if they saw us again, they would kill us.”

Paywalls Expand

Print publications were the first but now even news portals are following suit. The latest to put its content behind a paywall is LiveMint, the business news website which is part of the Hindustan Times group. To ensure that the news website does not lose any unique visitors in terms of traffic, it will apply the paywall under what is called the user propensity meter. This allows non-subscribers to access a limited number of articles for free. Once the user reaches the maximum article consumption limit, the paywall will kick in. However, its e-paper will only be accessible to subscribers.

The news website has launched subscription plans, ranging from Rs 999 to Rs 2,599. As an added incentive, the digital publication has partnered with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) to provide subscribers with WSJ content.

LiveMint joins publications like The Indian Express e-paper, The Hindu, The Hindu BusinessLine and Business Standard in putting their content behind a paywall.  LiveMint is part of HT Digital Streams, the digital arm of HT Media Ltd which currently claims 42 million unique monthly users.

Ignoring the Golden Rule

The screaming headlines which carried news of the discovery of gold mines with 3,500 tonnes of gold reserves in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district have disappeared from the front pages as fast as they appeared. The reason: The story was fake, but once it was carried by local newspapers and amplified by the king of fake news, Postcard News, it spread like wildfire and was picked up by the national media.

On February 22, leading media outlets were reporting that the Sonbhadra gold mines had gold deposits estimated to be around 3,350 tonnes and worth Rs 12 lakh crore—almost five times the current gold reserves of India. The reports quoted a district mining officer and estimated that with this find, India’s current gold reserve of 626 tonnes would jump to second place in the world behind the US. The fact that no central minister for mines or any government spokesman was quoted should have raised red flags but it didn’t.

The media celebration died down when the Geological Survey of India (GSI) denied any such discovery. A tweet by Mahesh Hegde, founder of the dubious website, Postcard News, which interpreted 3,350 tonnes of gold ore as 3,350 tonnes of actual gold mined, was adopted by several mainstream media outlets, including ANI and Doordarshan. Taking the cake was The Financial Express headline: “Yogi Adityanath strikes gold.” The GSI statement denying any such discovery and clarifying that the “gold which can be extracted from the total resource of 52,806.25 tonnes of ore is approximately 160 kg and not 3,350 tonnes as mentioned in the media” put an end to the story but not before exposing the lack of fact-checkers in the Indian media.

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