India Today Sends Notice to Cobrapost, Demands It Remove Content

The notice promised appropriate legal action against the website & its promoters, if the content wasn’t taken down.

In Cobrapost’s video, a senior official of the India Today group allegedly agreed to run a paid “advertising campaign” with Hindutva and political overtones in exchange for a sum of Rs 275 crore.

(Photo: The Quint)

The India Today Group has reportedly sent a notice to investigative journalism website Cobrapost, in light of their recent negative expose on the company, on the basis of the latter’s “sting operation” on major media houses.

In the official notice that has been shared on the company’s website, India Today demanded that Cobrapost remove the “malicious and slanderous content” which seeks to “defame the group”.

The notice further stated that if Cobrapost failed to remove the said content, “appropriate legal action” would be taken against the website and its promoters.

The second part of a massive sting operation conducted by Cobrapost labelled “Operation 136” had earlier revealed that a senior official of the India Today group had allegedly agreed to run a paid “advertising campaign” with Hindutva and political overtones, in exchange for a sum of Rs 275 crore.

The India Today Group is one of the leading media organisations in India, and has been for over four decades. The ITG has an impeccable reputation for integrity and transparency. As an organisation, it has never engaged in the unethical and illegal practice of “paid news”. As a policy, commercial exigencies have never influenced editorial content on any of its platforms. 

Part of the official legal notice says

(Photo courtesy: India Today)

(Photo courtesy: India Today)

(Photo courtesy: India Today)

It added that advertising and editorials were “separate departments” and the advertisements that appear on the print or television editions of the company are always “marked as advertorials” or contain disclaimers to distinguish it from any editorial content.

The Cobrapost sting operation aims to review whether mainstream media houses would agree to run political campaigns, defame leaders of opposition, and propagate Hindutva agenda for electoral gains, in exchange for money.

(With inputs from India Today)