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HomePoliticsThe shaming of top media houses by Gulf News embarrasses India

The shaming of top media houses by Gulf News embarrasses India

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Multiple media houses aired a video claiming that the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi said ‘Jai Siya Ram’ at a function in Abu Dhabi. 

New Delhi: A video of an Emirati man saying “Jai Siya Ram” in Abu Dhabi went viral after being shared by major TV channels such as Times Now and Zee News, on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Abu Dhabi. However, it also resulted in massive embarrassment for the media houses.

The video was from a programme conducted by spiritual leader Morari Bapu in September, 2016. While Times Now and Zee News acknowledged the video was old, they claimed that the man in the video, who is actually a UAE-based journalist, was the Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The first to crack down on the news channels for circulating a fake video was Dubai-based newspaper Gulf News.

The newspaper’s website published a scathing report, accusing Indian news outlets of spreading “false propaganda” to “gain political mileage in India.”

The Gulf News report pointed out that the Crown Prince was Chief Guest for India’s Republic Day parade in 2017. The report said that Indian media groups were incapable of “responsible journalism” for not being able to correctly identify the Crown Prince.

Saying the video was fake, the report said it was a “clear indication that the mainstream media in India is falling prey to propaganda and fake news”. The report also pointed out the timing of the story being posted, which was just before Modi arrived in UAE.

“The patter of a known fake and out-of-context video being deliberately recirculated multiple times by a selected section of the Indian media is a clear pointer that the objective of the exercise is to spread malicious and false propaganda on a swathe of unsuspecting news consumers,” the report said.

While the UAE Embassy in India did not issue a statement, its official handle on Twitter shared the Gulf News report.

While Zee News has deleted the story online, Times Now updated the story to reflect the real speaker in the video, but has not issued a statement of correction.

The video gained a lot of traction online, with several notable people sharing the video on Twitter. The video went up around the same time as fake images emerged of the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi that the Prime Minister was to inaugurate.

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15 COMMENTS

  1. Be-fooling the masses through manipulating the media has turned out biggest institutions in big democracies like India and Amreeka and for this purpose a share of the booty looted from the banks is cleverly utilised .

  2. Isn’t the heading of this story, Fake?
    How does Gulf News, shaming TOP media houses, embarrass India?
    Are you the spokesperson for the 1.3 billion Indians?

  3. Why sensationalise the issue. The errors can happen in any part of this huge continent. What all is needed is to refrain from aggrevating the issue on hand and trying to give vent to one s core weaker traits. Forgive and Forget is the right approach.
    Media should not shirk from owning responsibility for the mistake and apologising to community at large. This will respect the so called freedom of press and jounalism.

  4. India should monitor its media. However,this would defeat the Free Press and openness in the articles. Modi might have difficulty in analyzing such press errors . Why cannot he hire some one who would understand and takesthe right action in such situations!

  5. Okay, I fail to see how media houses in India have emdrassed India? Let this sink in Indian media, you do not represent India. This media carried out a story claiming South Block has asked army to be on standby and army was ready to be deployed in Maldives. Story mentioned the famous “source”. Who is this source? So come on guys, sensationalism has replaced objectivity, you are no different.

  6. And what about Alzajera dishing out partisan and biased news on Kashmir with an intention to inflame and encourage the separstists and Paki terrorists ?

    • What the fuck is an Alzajera?

      And that news channel is owned by Qatar, not UAE.

      What about ki dukaan, at least get your geography right.

  7. Government must take very stringent action such media who put out such false news and anti national materials
    because such activities by these medias
    Make a fool of our government and the Indian citizens thus resulting losing our Nation’s credibility in the international arena.

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