In the aftermath of the tragic Helicopter crash and passing away of CDS General Bipin Rawat and 13 others, the whole country was shaken and most media houses covered the tragic news as it was supposed to be covered. However, The Hindu, that put up the news as headlines the next day had written “Rawat, 12 others killed in TN chopper crash”. The way this news was covered triggered a lot of backlash from netizens.
A lot of twitteratis were upset that a well-known paper like The Hindu could be so unsympathetic in their New coverage. They pointed out that the paper had failed to mention Gen. Bipin Rawat’s name in full and also missed out his title, almost like covering a common man’s death. Many said that even if the political leaning of a newspaper is different, that should not be expressed while covering the passing of an Army general, especially the Chief of Defence Staff.
He wasn’t any random Rawat..have some shame @the_hindu !#TheHindu #CDSGeneralBipinRawat pic.twitter.com/MgnajP9ztB
— Avinash Kumar Atish (@AtishAvinash) December 11, 2021
Subsequently, the paper published an editor’s note defending their stance. After mentioning that no disrespect was intended to Gen. Bipin Rawat, the note went onto say, “As a general rule, The Hindu avoids using honorifics and rank or designations in headlines.” Again, this editor’s note was also pointed out as hypocritical as a news clipping of Hindu’s coverage of Pakistan’s General Bajwa was shared.
In that news piece, the headline reads out, “Gen. Bajwa visits Riyadh after row over Kashmir.” This contradicted the editor’s note that said that The Hindu doesn’t use designations, while it clearly did for Pakistan’s General.
Hello, @the_hindu pic.twitter.com/2howXnl8UT
— Gems Of News (And Elections) (@GemsOfNews) December 15, 2021
Again, there was a justification that the News was covered on their digital space and therefore they had no constraint for space as compared to a news paper. However, another piece of coverage about Gen. Rawat by the paper was shared where they used his title. This again contradicts their own clarification.
The Hindu senior editor tells me that the above screenshot is comparing a newspaper headline with an online/web headline. Web has more space than a newspaper. I agree. Yet I feel if the newspaper has a policy it should be same for newspaper in print and for their web as well. 🙏
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) December 16, 2021
Before #TheHindu start with any other excuse, here they’re violating their own so called “clarification” pic.twitter.com/naBvQaq78l
— Human (@Praveen_Bablu) December 16, 2021
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