Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has alleged that India Today news director Rahul Kanwal and the channel misleadingly presented an interview with her in the debate format.
The MP has demanded that the channel remove the segment which portrayed her “inaccurately”, delete the tweet referring to the “debate”, issue an apology, and run a ticker clarifying that the broadcast was “not live”.
Baba Siddique's killing is tragic and shocking: @milinddeora, Shiv Sena MP
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) October 14, 2024
"Gangwars in Mumbai is the thing of the past....Mumbai police is one of the most professional police force in the country", he adds.
#Newstrack #BabaSiddique #LawrenceBishnoi | @rahulkanwal pic.twitter.com/7gXXiS1c9G
The channel had featured the MP on Kanwal’s show Newstrack while discussing former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique’s killing with Chaturvedi and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora in a split-screen format.
Uploading a statement on X, Chaturvedi claimed that India Today’s guest coordinator had assured her that this would be one-on-one interaction with Kanwal and won’t be clubbed with a live panel or face-off or debate.
“I was horrified to learn that I was misleadingly presented in a debate format, where I am shown as nodding and agreeing with everything stated by the other speaker from the opposition who was defending the lawlessness in the state in an attempt to salvage CM’s tattered reputation,” read the statement, which was also marked to Kallie Purie, vice chairperson of the India Today Group.
“What has been done is not just misleading and unethical but also an attempt to fraudulently show an exchange while there was none.”
In her statement, Chaturvedi also claimed that when she pointed the same out to Kanwal, the latter was “apologetic” but “I was appalled that you wanted me to delete my tweet while taking no steps to correct the misleading segment”.
The MP said that she hoped that India Today would uphold the highest standards of journalism and correct its mistakes. “Else, as a member of the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, I will be compelled to address the manipulation and misrepresentation through the appropriate forum available to me.”
This is not the first time Kanwal has courted controversy for telecasting a recorded interview as part of a debate format on his show. In September last year, Kanwal had aired a show featuring author Devdutt Pattanaik’s pre-recorded comments as part of a debate segment with author and historian Sanjeev Sanyal. The channel deleted the video and aired a revised version after backlash.
‘I wasn’t nodding to anything spoken by another guest’
Before her statement, Chaturvedi had raised the issue in another tweet, saying, “I absolutely do not appreciate what you have done here @IndiaToday and @rahulkanwal. I had recorded a one on one interaction with you and for you to now make it look like a face off is purely a fake attempt at a debate . I had even confirmed with your guest coordinator that this will not be done and was assured it won’t.”
I absolutely do not appreciate what you have done here @IndiaToday and @rahulkanwal
— Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) October 14, 2024
I had recorded a one on one interaction with you and for you to now make it look like a face off is purely a fake attempt at a debate . I had even confirmed with your guest coordinator that this… https://t.co/Zb1m9CHxQk
She also shared the India Today tweet in which the channel had shared a five-minute video clip showing Chaturvedi on the left, Kanwal in the middle and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora on the right in split screens.
In the video, Kanwal asks Deora about the law and order situation in Mumbai following Baba Siddique’s murder. For the next few minutes, Deora talks at length about the issue without any interruption from either Kanwal or Chaturvedi. Deora hailed the Mahayuti government’s record and took sharp digs at the opposition, claiming that the incident is being “politicised”. "Gangwars in Mumbai are a thing of the past...Mumbai police is one of the most professional police forces in the country.”
Chaturvedi said on X, “I wasn’t nodding to anything spoken by another guest nor was I aware you would make it look like I shared space with the guest because I don’t take lies easily or least of all nodding to brazen defence of a failed government.”
Newslaundry reached out to Rahul Kanwal and Kallie Purie for comment. This report will be updated if a response is received.
Update at 6.45 pm on October 16: Pointing to a “course correction”, Chaturvedi posted on X that she has been informed that India Today has taken down the edited “debate“ tweet, the entire segment of the Newstrack from all platforms, and “expressed regret over the entire misleading communication as well as broadcast content”.
So, as a follow up to my letter,
— Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) October 16, 2024
- I have been informed that India Today has taken down the edited ‘debate’ tweet of 14th October
- has taken down the entire segment of the Newstrack debate of 14th October from all platforms which had the edited ‘face off’
- They have also…
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