New Delhi | Modi government has reportedly stopped publishing advertisements in three major newspaper group, in what is termed as retaliation for “unfavourable reports”.
According to a Reuters report, the ruling party has frozen all the advertisements in Times Of India, The Hindu, and ABP’s The Telegraph.
These groups have a summation of approximately 26 million readership. They are now allegedly facing a hole in the pocket worth millions of rupees.
“There is a freeze, could be (because of) some reports they were unhappy with,” an executive at Bennet And Coleman, the parent organisation of Times of India told Reuters.
Around 15% of the Times group’s advertising comes from the government, the executive said. The ads are mostly government tenders for contracts as well as publicising government schemes.
The ABP group is facing a similar 15% loss in its total revenue. Before the elections, The Telegraph had been critical of the saffron party’s move and failures.
“Once you don’t toe the government line in your editorial coverage and you write anything against the government, then obviously the only way they can penalise you (is) to choke your advertising supply,” an ABP official said.
The Hindu newspaper, whose infamous report on the Dassault aviation’s aircraft scam brought them a lot of attention and credit, only to find plunging advertisements.
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli termed the accusations as “ridiculous”.
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