Thread by @NWM_India

In keeping with our commitment to push for the observance of journalistic ethics in news organisations, Network of Women In Media, India (NWMI) is sharing here the details of a troubling experience we have had with the Germany-based @DeutscheWelle’s @dwnews. (1/n)

In early June 2021, NWMI's attention was drawn to an article titled "India: COVID claims lives of hundreds of journalists" by Murali Krishnan @mkrish11 published by @dwnews' website on May 27. The article quoted a Preeti Kapoor, who was identified solely as an NWMI member. (2/n)

This @dwnews report also cited a statement issued by NWMI in April 2021 about the impact of COVID on Indian journalists. There were several problems with the @dwnews article including that: (i) there is no Preeti Kapoor among NWMI’s members (ii) our statement was misquoted. (3/n)

NWMI emailed Shamil Shams, a senior editor on @dwnews' Asia desk, pointing out these errors. Mr Shams wrote back simply saying, “We have made corrections according to your advise” (sic), but offered no apology or explanation for how the errors occurred in the first place. (4/n)

How, for example, was a person unknown to NWMI described as an NWMI member? On perusing the ‘corrected’ article, we found that while it no longer designated Ms Kapoor as "NWMI member" & the misquote of our statement had been corrected, it contained another serious error. (5/n)

We realised that the quote attributed to Preeti Kapoor was a direct lift from NWMI's April 2021 statement.

Here is the statement from which a portion was lifted by @mkrish11 / @dwnews and published as a quote supposedly given by Ms Kapoor. nwmindia.org/statements/nwm… (6/n)

To make our point clearer, we are sharing 2 screenshots here. This screenshot is from the ‘corrected’ DW article quoting Preeti Kapoor, who was by this stage in our communication with Shamil Shams identified as “an analyst” and no longer as an “NWMI member”, and... (7/n)

...this screenshot is of NWMI’s April statement. We have marked out the portion of our statement that was inexplicably carried as Ms Kapoor’s quote by @dwnews in May. How did Ms Kapoor speak the exact words used in an NWMI statement? This cannot be a coincidence. @mkrish11 (8/n)

NWMI again wrote to Shamil Shams asking that a correction be made, a corrigendum be published & that he look into how this situation arose. His response: ‘We’ll remove the quote altogether.” No explanation. No apology. And at that point, no corrigendum on @dwnews’ website. (9/n)

We realised Mr Shams was ignoring NWMI’s polite request for a published apology and an explanation of how our statement was plagiarised, among other issues with @mkrish11’s article. So we wrote to @DeutscheWelle’s spokesperson Christoph Jumpelt outlining what had occurred. (10/n)

It has been two months since NWMI wrote to Christoph Jumpelt. Till date, we have not received a response apart from an auto acknowledgement of our mail. Meanwhile, at some point, this obfuscatory corrigendum appeared below the article in question on @dwnews’ website. (11/n)

NWMI believes that ethics and the integrity of the media must be upheld under all circumstances, and this includes calling out the media when we observe a lack of integrity in its functioning. This is why we are sharing our experience with @dwnews here on Twitter. (12/n)

Apart from the lack of courtesy to a party who has evidently been plagiarised by their writer, @DeutscheWelle @dwnews is also clearly treating this as a minor matter. It is not. At stake here are fundamental principles of journalism that NWMI is committed to. (13/n)

Who is Preeti Kapoor? How is it possible that in an interview to @dwnews she used language that is a word-for-word match of an NWMI statement? What is her area of expertise as “an analyst”? Was @mkrish11 questioned about this by Shamil Shams or other editors at @dwnews? (14/n)

Many more questions arise from this episode, but the most important one is this: as #COVID19 wreaks havoc across the world, why is @dwnews treating facts so lightly in its coverage of the #pandemic in India, and how much further does it take this disregard for facts? (15/n)

We tell newcomers to the profession that facts are sacred in journalism; that indifference to accuracy, manufacturing facts, misquotes & misrepresentation are inexcusable; that when it comes to accuracy, no fact can be deemed big or small. @DeutscheWelle @dwnews @mkrish11 (16/n)

Journalists who are casual towards a fact they consider ‘small’ cannot be entirely trusted with facts they consider ‘big’. The apathy towards accuracy we have experienced first-hand from @dwnews’ team goes against the fundamentals of journalism. @DeutscheWelle @mkrish11 (17/n)

. @DeutscheWelle is “funded by the German federal tax budget”, according to the organisation’s website. #NWMI is sharing this experience with the public to alert the #German people to @dwnews’ practices and to caution @dwnews’ audience everywhere, especially in India. (n/n)

(Thread ends)

cc: @AmritaCheemaTV @ReutersIndia @ReutersWorld @AP @BBCWorld @BBCIndia

#DeutscheWelle #DWNews #DW #ethics #journalism
#accuracy #plagiarism #Facts #FactsMatter