Understanding the PTI fiasco
The government is going after the news agency with a vengeance, a move that may affect all of news media.
Why read this story?
Editor's note: It all started with a story. A month ago, the Press Trust of India interviewed the Chinese ambassador to India, Sun Weidong. Chinese troops had clashed with Indian forces at the border in Ladakh, and this interview was a part of the regular reportage by PTI, India’s leading news agency. What was striking about the interview, though was that the diplomat blamed India for the face-off, which had led to the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers. PTI went ahead and published the story in late June and what has followed since is utter chaos. First came the public broadcaster, Prasar Bharati. In a letter to PTI, it expressed its disappointment and accused PTI of being “anti-national”. In fact, it went to the extent of saying that it would be reconsidering its subscription to the agency. And if that wasn’t enough, earlier this week, PTI received a rap on its knuckles from the government itself. The Union government has sent a notice to Press Trust of India, asking the news agency to cough up Rs 84 crore by August 7 as …
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