The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s media mouthpiece, Sun News, is once again in the spotlight – this time for the quality and knowledge level of its journalists. A viral clip shows a Sun News reporter “mistakenly” addressing the President of the Federation of India Export Organization (FIEO) as the President of Vivo Mobile’s India division raising concerns about the channel’s journalistic standards.
In the video, the reporter begins by saying, “At the Chennai Trade Centre where the Global Investors Meet is taking place, we are joined by Vivo India Mobile’s President Israr Ahmed.” He goes on to ask this person, “What discussion are you taking part in today?” The person being interviewed, visibly stifling his smiles says, “I am representing the President of FIEO today. It is a great thing to have the MSME meeting here, Reverse Buyer Seller Meet is taking place.”
State of journalism in Tamil Nadu.
The guy being interviewed is from FIEO (Federation of Indian Exports Organisation). But the journo thinks he is from Vivo. pic.twitter.com/WdRdCmnPxZ— K Balakumar (@kbalakumar) January 9, 2024
A reporter who is unable to differentiate between FIEO and VIVO only goes on to display the quality and the basic understanding of journalists employed by Sun News. This also makes way for uninformed journalists to spread fake news in the process because of themselves being misinformed.
Getting a quick bite from a VIP at any location without preparedness or reading up on who is attending the event and what FIEO is all about, or whether Vivo India is even participating in the event raises questions about the kind of news propagated by the said channel.
Some of the previous instances where Sun News peddled misinformation include:
In December 2023, at the time of the floods in Tamil Nadu, Sun News was caught spreading false information about Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remarks, claiming she said Tamil Nadu flood damages couldn’t be announced as a national disaster. In reality, Sitharaman clarified that there is no practice of declaring any state disaster as a national one, including the Tsunami of December 2004 in Tamil Nadu.
In November 2023, Sun News spread misinformation by incorrectly stating that the online gambling law was applicable. In reality, the Madras High Court ruled on 9 November 2023, that the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act, 2022, applies only to “games of chance” and not games of skill like rummy and poker.
In August 2023, Sun News channel’s Twitter handle shared a video alleging a shortage of ordinary pots for welcoming Tamil Nadu BJP leader K Annamalai, creating a false narrative of public clamor and commotion. In reality, the pots (kalasa sombu) were intended for distribution during a Nagarathar Sambo Puja at Kashi and were brought to Karaikudi as part of Annamalai’s yatra in memory of the Kashi Nagarathars community.
In April 2021, during the peak of the second COVID wave, despite an official investigation by Collector Shanmugasundar confirming that seven individuals died at Vellore Government Hospital for various reasons, including heart failure, Tamil news channels, particularly Sun News, falsely alleged that the deaths were due to a scarcity of oxygen cylinders. Officials, including the Deputy Director of District Health Services, clarified that the patients had previously recovered from COVID-19, and their deaths were unrelated to oxygen shortages, yet Sun News continued to disseminate the misleading information without correction.
In June 2021, a manipulated video falsely claiming that an elderly Muslim man’s beard was forcibly cut for not chanting patriotic slogans circulated widely on social media, prompting outrage. Despite clarifications from Ghaziabad Police about the incident having no communal angle, the misinformation persisted, leading to the arrest of three individuals, while an FIR was filed against individuals and media outlets, including AltNews co-founder Muhammad Zubair and Sun News in Tamil Nadu, for spreading the fake news.
In September 2021, Sun News spread lies by claiming that BJP workers left garbage bags on Besant Nagar beach after a cleanup on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday. The allegations were refuted, highlighting another instance of misinformation being propagated through the media outlet.
The recurring nature of such incidents prompts questions about whether these are genuine mistakes or deliberate acts, raising doubts about the authenticity of news reported by the Sun News channel and its overall credibility.
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