“Self Goal”: X On Pro-Government News Agency’s Tweet That Mentions ‘Questioning People In Power’
News agency ANI has shared Bhumi Pednekar’s view on being a journalist after the release of her upcoming crime thriller, Bhakshak. The agency quoted Pendekar as saying journalism is “not an easy profession, needs courage to ask the right questions to people who are in power”.
When ANI tweeted the quote on their X (formerly twitter), netizens took jab at the news agency by saying that it was a “hilarious self-goal by ANI”.
hilarious self-goal by ANI https://t.co/m9uIN95Inv
— meghnad 🔗 (@Memeghnad) January 31, 2024
Journalist Muhammed Zubair said “Irony just died a thousand deaths”. He called ANI “a propaganda News Agency known to be BJP”s mouthpiece”.
LOL! Irony just died a thousand deaths. 🤣🤣🤣
This is shared by a propaganda News Agency known to be BJP”s mouthpiece. pic.twitter.com/Ne6ePI362u— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) January 31, 2024
Another user said the “Propaganda News Agency have really tough job in pleasing their master with no question about misrule”.
Propaganda News Agency have really tough job in pleasing their master with no question about misrule.
— PUNEET VIZH (@Puneetvizh) January 31, 2024
ANI (Asian News International) is an Indian news agency that offers syndicate multimedia news feed to news bureaus in India and elsewhere. Often times, the agency has been criticized for having serving as a propaganda tool for the incumbent central government of India.
It has been accused of suppressing news about any internal discontent in the Ministry of External Affairs and showed the Army in positive light while Congress was in power, as noted by the Indian-English magazine The Caravan. It said, the agency grew even more closer to the government after the BJP came into power in 2014. Reportedly, the “effects have ranged from sympathetic covering of the political campaigns by BJP to reporters being highly confrontational, when dealing with politicians from opposition parties”.
In 2020, an investigation done by EU DisinfoLab said that on multiple occasion, ANI published anti-Pakistan and anti-China opinion pieces and news contents, including opinion pieces that are falsely attributed to European politicians.
ANI has also been accused of misreporting events, by fact checkers who are certified by the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). The Caravan noted that it came across of several video footages from ANI where logos of random television channels from Pakistan, along with Urdu tickers were imposed on news showcasing India in a positive light. Reportedly, the video editors of the news agency have admitted to about forging the clip.
