Sunday 3 June 2018

"We no longer believe this was the case"




The BBC News website report they are complaining about went through some startling edits, as Newssniffer reveals:

Where Version 0 has "An Indian police officer hailed as a hero for protecting a Muslim man from being lynched by a mob has begun receiving threats, police say", Version 1 has "An Indian police officer hailed as a hero for protecting a Muslim man from being lynched by a mob has begun receiving death threats, police say."

Where Version 1 has "Some government officials have also publicly justified the actions of the mob", Version 2 has "Some politicians have also publicly justified the actions of the mob". 

Where Version 2 has "It's wrong when these people (Muslim men) bring Hindu girls to our places of worship despite knowing it's a temple and it's pious," Rakesh Nainwal, an MLA of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told BBC Punjabi's Sunil Kataria", Version 3 has "It's wrong when these people (Muslim men) bring Hindu girls to our places of worship despite knowing it's a temple and it's pious," Rakesh Nainwal, a local leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told BBC Punjabi's Sunil Kataria. 

Where Version 3 has "When a boy and a girl go somewhere together by choice, then how can these right-wing groups call it a case of "love jihad" and attack them?" Ajit Sahni, a resident of Ramnagar, told BBC Punjabi, Version 4 has "When a boy and a girl go somewhere together by choice, then how can these right-wing groups call it a case of "love jihad" and attack them?" Kaisar Rana, a resident of Ramnagar, told BBC Punjabi."

And where Version 4 has "An Indian police officer hailed as a hero for protecting a Muslim man from being lynched by a mob has begun receiving death threats, police say", Version 5 has "An Indian police officer hailed as a hero for protecting a Muslim man from a mob has said he has received abusive messages on social media"....

...and the following passage was added to the end of the report:

Correction: The BBC initially reported that the police officer had received death threats. We no longer believe this was the case.

That was posted some 24 hours after the original version. (None of the other errors were publicly acknowledged). 

NAINITAL: A day after news reports started circulating that Gagandeep Singh, the policeman who had saved a Muslim man from getting lynched by a mob had gone underground since he was facing death threats, the sub-inspector clarified to TOI that he had received no threats and was in fact at home with his family. 
Reacting to a news report in a reputed foreign news portal on Wednesday which claimed that the officer has been getting threat calls, Singh said, "There is no such thing. I have taken leave to be with my family. My sister is home (from the United States of America), so I am spending time with her and other family members.” He added that he will return to duty on June 2.
Senior police officials from the district also denied information of any kind of threat or abuse to the officer or his family. Janmejay Khanduri, senior superintendent of police, Nainital district said, “There have been no threats made to him. Something like this will never go unnoticed. We are committed to serve and protect not just people but also our officers.” 
The report by the portal had quoted a claim which it said had been made by Singh to a local media outlet in which he had said, "I have received several hate messages." The report also said that police officials working with Singh had told their reporter that he had been sent on leave and would receive counselling. Later on Thursday, after the report went viral on social media, the portal put up a statement saying that although they had initially reported that the police officer had received death threats. “we no longer believe this was the case.” 
The "reputed foreign news portal" is, of course, the BBC. 

What on earth happened here?

1 comment:

  1. This is one complaint the BBC will take seriously for obvious reasons.

    ReplyDelete

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