Thread by @MnshaP

First, Amit Malviya tweets out a dubious sting claiming that women at Shaheen Bagh are paid Rs 500.

Next, TV news channels unquestioningly amplify this claim. And before we know it, just like that, it becomes the 'truth about protests'. (Thread👇🏾)
newslaundry.com/2020/02/04/the…

While many Big Media news channels were happy to play up the video without employing the slightest of journalistic rigour, the good folks at @altnews tried to get to the bottom of it. The one clue they get after watching the video is a mobile number.

@AltNews They zero in on the address/details of the shop and @newslaundry hits the ground. Turns out, the sting was actually shot 8 km away from Shaheen Bagh at Kusumi Telecom, the shopkeeper calls himself a 'karyakarta'.

@AltNews @newslaundry Given the BJP paraphernalia in his shop, can he be described as a “BJP worker”? “Only ‘worker’ will do,” he says, “although I’ve belonged to the BJP since the beginning.”

@AltNews @newslaundry The shopkeeper feigns ignorance about where the sting was shot but, calls the claims in it unreliable. He later admits that the sting was shot in his shop. All in all, we find that it's a totally dubious sting that should not have received any play in the media.

@AltNews @newslaundry Three people in a corner of Delhi made unproven claims about a protest eight kilometres away, one of them filmed it, the governing party spread it on social media, and channels like Times Now, Republic and India Today debated it on national television.

@AltNews @newslaundry This @AltNews-@newslaundry investigation would have been unnecessary if the news outlets that carried this “sting” as news — and even conducted primetime debates on it — had done their own investigation in the matter.

@AltNews @newslaundry But here we are — many of big TV channels with money and resources have failed to carry out the most basic of public-interest journalism, and smaller operations sustaining themselves on subscriptions and donations have stepped in.

@AltNews @newslaundry Do consider powering our work because investigations like these cost time, money and effort, and are essential to our information and news ecosystem.

Donate to @AltNews: altnews.in/donate/

Subscribe to @newslaundry: newslaundry.com/subscription

@AltNews @newslaundry As an aside, if there's one thing new, digital media operations should not replicate from traditional media, it is the mindless one-upmanship. The age of digital journalism is the age of collaboration, not competition. Too many more such collaborations.

@AltNews @newslaundry And finally, kudos to @thisisjignesh and @sighyush for
collaborating on this and the thorough job done.

.@ndtvindia picks up our report. Ravish Kumar's primetime shows are among the most watched, trending shows on YT. I hope this reaches a wider audience.