The channel got it all mixed up! No surprises there.
On Monday, Times Now decided to go after the Kerala government over Thrissur Pooram. On April 17, health minister KK Shailaja had said that the festival could not be cancelled despite public health concerns owing to the surging coronavirus infections because that would “cause many problems”. Today, however, her government announced that it would be closed to the public this year.
As the Times Now anchor discussed the matter with their reporter, the screen showed crowds engaged in some kind of celebration. The idea presumably was to depict what was happening in Kerala, but there was a problem: the visuals weren’t from Kerala at all.
Mostly, as people on Twitter were quick to point out, the visuals showed people celebrating Ugadi in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. Ugadi, also known as Gudi Padwa, is New Year's Day in Andhra, Telangana, and Karnataka.
Thrissur Pooram is on April 23.
The media must be free and fair, uninfluenced by corporate or state interests. That's why you, the public, need to pay to keep news free.
ContributeHaving recorded around 1.24 million Covid cases so far, Kerala is the third-worst affected state in the country. Andhra has a total of 9,62,000 cases.
In no time, the Twitterati called the channel out on its misreporting and urged it to stop spreading fake news.
General elections are around the corner, and Newslaundry and The News Minute have ambitious plans together to focus on the issues that really matter to the voter. From political funding to battleground states, media coverage to 10 years of Modi, choose a project you would like to support and power our journalism.
Ground reportage is central to public interest journalism. Only readers like you can make it possible. Will you?