The controversial media portal The Print is in the news again, and this time for all the wrong reasons. Notorious for publishing half-truths and some outright lies, The Print this time published another misleading news about the recent decision of the Press Information Bureau being enabled to keep a check on all media sources, terming it as an attempt to curb ‘negative publicity.’
It all started with the article published by The Print on this recent development.
Written by Amrita Nayak Dutta, the brains behind this article had made their intentions crystal clear with the title itself. For those unaware, a recent government order empowered the Press Information Bureau to keep an eye on whatever the media published in the runup to gauge the mood of the general public. This way, the incumbent government could formulate their plans in the runup to the 2019 elections.
However, what The Print has tried to make us believe is that the government is trying to muzzle the media by monitoring the ‘negative publicity’. Notice this excerpt from this article:
“The Narendra Modi government has tasked its chief communication arm to step up monitoring of social, digital as well as traditional media and flag “negative publicity” of the PMO and other crucial ministries, just months before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.”
The Print report further states:
“The Narendra Modi government has tasked its chief communication arm to step up monitoring of social, digital as well as traditional media and flag “negative publicity” of the PMO and other crucial ministries, just months before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.” This is written so since Intelligence Bureau’s New Media Wing is also collaborating with PIB on this issue.
Though absolutely absurd and baseless, without any credible proof, this is not the first time The Print has resorted to such conspiracy theories. We remember their fancy tales of how the Statue of Unity will never be economically feasible. However, one man was in no mood to let them get away this easy.
Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports and Olympic medalist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore took upon himself to nip the vicious propaganda in the bud:
My response to this misleading and misinformative article in @ShekharGupta's @ThePrintIndia https://t.co/985KqNA1XL pic.twitter.com/zpO43tnKWc
— Col Rajyavardhan Rathore (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Ra_THORe) January 5, 2019
Not only did Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore go hammer and tongs after The Print, but he also roasted them for terming things available in public domain as snooping.
In the 2 minutes long video, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore not only clarified the exact details of the press release but also taught The Print the ABC of public tenders and snooping. It seems that the ex-Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting took good lessons from Arun Jaitley and Nirmala Sitharaman, who brutally roasted Congress President Rahul Gandhi for his continuous peddling of lies on the Rafale deal.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore also suggested Shekhar Gupta to refrain from publishing such misleading news. Like the champion shooter he once was, the retired colonel nailed them bang on target.