'Abuse of power' at Delhi stadium: Express story leads to Kejriwal announcement, News18 takes credit

On Thursday morning, social media was abuzz with chatter about a scoop by the Indian Express: athletes and coaches at the Delhi government-run Thyagraj Stadium allegedly being asked to wrap up training earlier than usual to allow Delhi’s Principal Secretary (Revenue) Sanjeev Khirwar to walk his dog at the facility.

Within hours of the story being published, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal directed all such facilities run by the Delhi government to stay open for sportspersons till 10pm.

The report was an exclusive by Indian Express reporter Andrew Amsan and photojournalist Abhinav Saha, but it was CNN News 18 that rushed to take credit for the impact.

The channel ran the Delhi government’s announcement as breaking news calling it a “Mega News 18 impact”. While a ticker cited that the report was by the Indian Express and credited Saha for the visuals, the “Mega News 18 impact” bubble flashed on the screen every few seconds.

The reporter, photojournalist, and other journalists soon took to Twitter to point out the hypocrisy.

CNN News18 later deleted the tweet containing a video of its news broadcast that took credit for the report.