Even as India Today is embroiled in a TRP rigging scam and accused of bribing households to watch its channel for longer hours of duration, an undated video of a particularly agitated man bawling out at an Aaj Tak car is doing the rounds on the social media platforms. The video was created by the man himself who claimed that he was a victim of their careless driving.
In the video, a man, visibly aggrieved by the rash driving by an Aaj Tak car, is seen yelling at the driver and the passenger sitting in the taxi for endangering his life with their reckless driving. The car has a sticker of Aaj Tak pasted on its windscreen and the driver and the passenger of the car are seen wearing masks, indicating that the video could be from recent times.
Special message for #aajtak and #RahulKanwal – pic.twitter.com/PyCPwsDyHn
— Nilotpal (@nilotpalm3) October 9, 2020
“This is Aaj Tak’s car. They drive as if their rears are on fire. I have had enough of this. Who the hell do you think, you are?” the man shouted at the car.
Circling around the car, the enraged man dared the passenger to unsling his mask and show his face on camera. Flying into a rage, the man added, “Tell this to your Rahul Kanwal. Four years back on April 2, 2016, I was going to be run over in a similar manner by your car. This is a promise by this 5 feet 6-inch Robinhood, I would make sure you media persons pay dearly for this,” the man blurted out.
India Today accused of manipulating viewership numbers by BARC
India Today, particularly journalist Rahul Kanwal tied himself in a knot when they prematurely went hammer and tongs over the mention of Republic TV in a TRP scam announced by Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in a press conference a couple of days ago. However, hours later, India Today had to mellow down its reportage on the TRP scam after the FIR in the case mentioned its name and not of Republic TV.
India Today was also held guilty of manipulating viewership by BARC and was asked to pay a fine of Rs 5,00,000 after their explanation did not satisfactorily explain the increase in India Today viewership by the BARC Disciplinary Council.he remand notice by Mumbai Police also mentioned in detail the illicit financial transaction the accused Vishal Bhandari had for driving up the TRP ratings of India Today. Bhandari had reportedly paid Rs 200 monthly to at least 5 households with bar-o-meters for watching India Today at least 2 hours daily.
In a statement issued by India Today regarding the claims made in the fake TRP scam later, the news channel essentially confirmed the OpIndia report on the matter and admitted that they were fined by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC). However, the media giant alleged that the action was taken by BARC without any concrete evidence or convening a proper judicial committee.
