NewsDrum Impact: Wikipedia removes ‘Modi-aligned media’ tag from Aaj Tak, India TV, CNN-News18

New Delhi: Wikipedia on Wednesday edited out the ‘disparaging’ parts of the pages of Aaj Tak, India TV and CNN-News18 following a NewsDrum article titled “Wikipedia’s credibility at stake as its editors target more Indian media outlets”.

In its October 24 report, NewsDrum highlighted the suspected bias within Wikipedia after its editors doubled down their attack on Indian media following the Delhi High Court warning in the ANI matter.

After Wikipedia allegedly failed to adhere to a directive from the court concerning the disclosure of information related to edits made on the Wikipedia page of ANI, the Delhi HC in September hinted at the possibility of a blockade in India if the online encyclopedia does not comply with court orders. 

The page in question had content that ANI claimed was defamatory, suggesting that ANI had been used as a propaganda tool.

On the other hand, an official document from the Canadian government picked up a few reports from ANI and India Today to accuse the Indian media of ‘foreign interference’ amid a diplomatic row.

Select Wikipedia editors allegedly took advantage of the situation and targeted top Indian media outlets by branding them as mouthpieces of the Narendra Modi government. 

In order to appear unbiased, the edits also included instances of reported misinformation attached with these Indian media outlets including Aaj Tak, India TV, CNN-News18, Zee News and NDTV.

The perceived bias against the Indian media was quite visible with the fact that the Wikipedia editor never tagged the American media outlets as “mouthpieces” despite their declared political preferences.

On the misinformation count, the Western media including the likes of Fox News, CNN, Washington Post, New York Times and several others have been accused of misleading reportage on several occasions.

Quoting an independent law practitioner in the Supreme Court, the NewsDrum report had said, “More than India, the media outlets across the US and the rest of the world are openly aligned with either of the political parties. Fox News, CNN, WSJ, New York Times and the list is endless. Indian media started taking sides openly after they saw what was happening in developed markets like the USA. Wikipedia never branded them as aligned because this could be an individual opinion depending on which side you see this from. Such things will not leave any doubt in readers’ minds about the media outlets but Wikipedia and their editors. This is not the real Wikipedia I always trusted.”

While Wikipedia edited out the part describing these outlets as ‘Modi aligned’ from the intro, it continued to highlight the misinformation bit.

In the process, Wikipedia also toned down its language from directly branding a few other Indian news outlets as “noted for reporting in favour of the ruling  BJP” to editorially and legally correct language using words such as ‘accused’, ‘described’, etc. 

Here’s a comparison between the pages pre and post-edit:

In the screenshots comparing pre and post-edit on Aaj Tak’s page, Wikipedia removed the reference in which it previously said, “Noted for reporting in favor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party”.

For India TV page, Wikipedia edited out the part which said, “The channels is known for reporting in favor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party”.

CNN-News18’s Wikipedia page earlier read, “The channel has been noted for supporting the ideology of the ruling Modi government and works as a propaganda news outlet.” This part has been edited out as of October 31, 2024.

In the case of Times Now, Wikipedia opted to use far more legally and editorially correct language as it edited the page from “noted for reporting in favor of the ruling BJP” to “its content has been described as in favour of the ruling BJP party.”