Vijaita Singh, a journalist at The Hindu who is known to have a complicated relationship with the truth, has landed herself in troubled waters yet again. This time, it’s over her tweet on Doordarshan for carrying an advertisement of PayTM. It appears she doesn’t understand something as basic as the difference between revenue and profit.
https://twitter.com/vijaita/status/1179609688553357312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
People pointed out to her that it was obviously a paid advertisement but that didn’t stop Vijaita from sticking to her flawed logic.
https://twitter.com/vijaita/status/1179610761422757888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
It’s not unusual for a government-owned channel to run paid advertisements. “It’s not a profit making body,” is not a valid reason for why it should be a loss-making body. It’s only natural that the government would want to recover the costs that have been invested in the channel by running paid advertisements. However, all of this appears to make too much sense for Vijaita Singh to fathom.
Unsurprisingly, her tweet has attracted much ridicule from people on social media and rightly so.
https://twitter.com/attomeybharti/status/1179640130350399488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/ramprasad_c/status/1179613355679465474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/kochattil/status/1179651074912731136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
She was also oblivious to the fact that product placement like the PayTM sticker on the laptop of Doordarshan news anchor is also form of advertising.
https://twitter.com/vijaita/status/1179626854371581953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
A Twitter user even pointed out to her that the laptop sticker is one of the forms of ‘non-FCT (free commercial time) advertising options available to broadcasters.
https://twitter.com/anpadhganwar/status/1179629415166140416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
While regular advertising works during commercial breaks, such stickers on laptops work as ‘non-FCT’ advertisement and are usually at premium.
At one point she even said how this is conflict of interest since PayTM is direct competition to BHIM UPI app.
https://twitter.com/vijaita/status/1179614251054333952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Clearly, The Hindu ‘journalists’ do not seem quite well-versed with the concept of competition and free market. If BHIM UPI pays the money, even it could have its logo on the laptops of Doordarshan news anchors.op
Today’s episode is another feather in Vijaita Singh’s stellar journalism career thus far. In the past, she has peddled misleading information on Jammu & Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370 which attracted a strong condemnation by a Police Officer from the state.
Vijaita Singh also came to the defense of Pallava Bagla after his atrocious behaviour with ISRO scientists after the elite space org lost touch with Vikram Lander of Chandrayaan-2. She had attempted then to shift the blame to those who were legitimately criticizing his vile conduct.
Vijaita Singh has also spread Fake News about OpIndia.com in the past. Amusingly enough, it was right after The Hindu joined hands with the BBC to combat Fake News.