Authors
A post-graduate in Mass Communication, Ram has an experience of 8 years in the field of Media. He has worked for radio, television, e-commerce. Appalled by the spread of fake news and disinformation, he found it both challenging and satisfying to bring out the truth and nullify the effects of fake news in society.
Sabloo Thomas has worked as a special correspondent with the Deccan Chronicle from 2011 to December 2019. Post-Deccan Chronicle, he freelanced for various websites and worked in the capacity of a translator as well (English to Malayalam and Malayalam to English). He’s also worked with the New Indian Express as a reporter, senior reporter, and principal correspondent. He joined Express in 2001.
Pankaj Menon
Claim: ‘If our victory solely depends on Hindu votes, we don’t mind losing,’ M.K.Stalin.
Fact: The viral newscard is edited.
A social media post, carrying a purported newscard of News7 Tamil quoting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin as saying “If our victory solely depends on Hindu votes, we don’t mind losing. DMK will not stoop down to the level of begging Hindus for votes,” is going viral on social media platforms.
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Fact Check/Verification
Fact Check/Verification
On analysing the viral newscard, we noticed a spacing issue quite unlike regular newscards by News7 Tamil. Moreover, the font used in the newscard also appeared to be different from the usual font used by News 7 Tamil. We also noticed that some words on the newscard were erased with blue colour. This raised our doubts about the authenticity of the viral newscard.
We then searched if it was published in News 7 Tamil on February 13, 2019, at 2 pm, as mentioned in the viral newscard.
We found no such news card on the X account of News 7 Tamil at the time mentioned in the viral newscard.
Instead, the newscard published around the given time reported an announcement by TN CM Edappadi Palanisamy, promising an ex-gratia sum of ₹ 20 lakhs for the families of two TN soldiers killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
A comparison of the two newscards reveals that this particular newscard was edited to make the viral newscard.
We also contacted Sugitha Sarangaraj, digital head of News 7 Tamil, who confirmed that the viral news card was fake and that News 7 Tamil did not publish any such news.
We also found a clarification on the X page of News 7 Tamil announcing that the viral newscard was fake.
Conclusion
Our investigation reveals that the viral newscard of News7 Tamil, which attributes Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin saying that he wouldn’t mind losing if the victory harboured on Hindu votes, is fake.
This claim was first fact-checked by Ramkumar Kaliamurthy of our Tamil Newschecking team. This can be read here.
Result: Altered Photo
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Sources
X post from News 7 Tamil, Dated February 15, 2019
X post from News 7 Tamil, Dated September 08, 2023
Phone Conversation with Sugitha Sarangaraj, Digital Head, News 7 Tamil
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Authors
A post-graduate in Mass Communication, Ram has an experience of 8 years in the field of Media. He has worked for radio, television, e-commerce. Appalled by the spread of fake news and disinformation, he found it both challenging and satisfying to bring out the truth and nullify the effects of fake news in society.
Sabloo Thomas has worked as a special correspondent with the Deccan Chronicle from 2011 to December 2019. Post-Deccan Chronicle, he freelanced for various websites and worked in the capacity of a translator as well (English to Malayalam and Malayalam to English). He’s also worked with the New Indian Express as a reporter, senior reporter, and principal correspondent. He joined Express in 2001.
