Firstpost
Logo of Firstpost
Parent companyNetwork 18
StatusLive
Country of originIndia
Headquarters locationMumbai, Maharashtra, India
Key peoplePalki Sharma Upadhyay
(Managing Editor)
Official websitefirstpost.com

Firstpost is an Indian news website owned by Reliance Industries, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18. It posted misinformation on multiple occasions.[1][2]

The Network 18 group was originally owned by Raghav Bahl. In January 2012, the group received an investment from Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries through a rights issue of up to ₹2,700 crore.[3]

History

Firstpost began in 2011 as an online news portal of Network18.[4] In May 2013, the news group was merged with the Indian edition of Forbes India whose four top editorial heads, including editor in chief Indrajit Gupta, were dismissed.[5][6] The event led to a media furor.[7] Thereafter on 31 May 2013, Firstpost took over a satirical website Fakingnews.com for an undisclosed amount.[8] According to Scroll.in, "Network18, with its online outlet FirstPost, famously lost its primetime anchors in 2014 because of a diktat against criticising Modi."[9]

In 2015, The Caravan reported on censorship in Firstpost over criticism of political leaders such as Arun Jaitley.[10] In January 2019, a weekly English-language print edition of Firstpost began,[4][11] and then ended in June 2019, with publication of Firstpost continuing online.[12] As of April 2020, Jaideep Giridhar is the executive editor of Firstpost in Mumbai, while Sanjay Singh is the deputy executive editor.[13] On 26 January 2023, the prime-time show Vantage was launched, hosted by managing editor Palki Sharma, formerly of WION.[14]

Fact-checkers have found the Firstpost to have posted disinformation on multiple occasions. In 2023, it misreported photo of grave with iron grille to be from Pakistan when it was from Hyderabad, India.[2] In 2023, it falsely reported that Atiq Ahmed's vote had ‘Saved' the UPA Govt in 2008.[15][1]

References

  1. ^ a b Chatterjee, Swasti (3 June 2020). "News18, Firstpost Tweet Old Video Of Waterspout As Cyclone Nisarga". BOOM. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Media misreport: Viral photo of grave with iron grille is from Hyderabad, not Pakistan". Alt News. 30 April 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Reliance enters media by opening purse strings for Network18". The Indian Express. 4 January 2012. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  4. ^ a b Jha, Lata (23 January 2019). "Firstpost newspaper targeted at niche, discerning audiences". Mint. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  5. ^ Menon, Meena (9 June 2013). "'Forbes India' editors sacked for demanding stock ownership". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  6. ^ "Why Forbes' editors in India were sacked". Rediff. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  7. ^ Aravind, Indulekha (16 November 2013). "No country for good journalists?". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  8. ^ "Firstpost buys current affairs satire portal FakingNews.com". Hindustan Times. 31 May 2013. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  9. ^ Venkataramakrishnan, Rohan (3 June 2016). "Vadra investigation: Congress attacks NDTV as FirstPost gets praise – what's going on?". Scroll.in. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  10. ^ Dev, Atul (15 August 2015). "Why is Firstpost Being Asked to Refrain from Criticising Three Top Leaders from the BJP?". The Caravan.
  11. ^ Sirur, Simrin; Bajpai, Shailaja; Choudhary, Ratnadeep (28 January 2019). "Making news — Zee's financial woes, Firstpost launch and BJP's WhatsApp 'fake news'". ThePrint. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  12. ^ Jha, Lata (6 June 2019). "Network18 suspends publication of Firstpost newspaper". Mint. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  13. ^ "About Firstpost - Firstpost". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  14. ^ Srikanth, Swarna. "Palki Sharma's Vantage - Changing geopolitical landscape through the Indian lens". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  15. ^ Varma, Aishwarya (18 April 2023). "Fact-check: Did Atiq Ahmed's Vote 'Save the Upa Govt' in the 2008 Trust Vote?". TheQuint. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
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