Washington Post admits to spreading misinformation about Operation Sindoor and using false claims to defame Indian media

Operation Sindoor’s coverage was no less than a “festivity” for the Western media, something like Christmas in advance as they got a chance to relentlessly hit out at India. However, while doing so, they ended up spreading misinformation and fake news themselves. In its breathless attempt to hold Indian media guilty of spreading wartime misinformation, The Washington Post has ended up doing the very thing it accused Indian media of, that is, spreading misinformation, relying on dubious sources, mistranslating local language, and publishing unverified content.

A correction that says more than the original story

In a now-updated version of its original story, WaPo has quietly slipped in a correction that revealed far more about its own journalistic lapses than those it set out to highlight. The article titled “How misinformation overtook Indian newsrooms amid conflict with Pakistan”, authored by Karishma Mehrotra, was first published on 4th June. It painted a grim picture of India’s media ecosystem allegedly flooded with false reports during a tense military standoff with Pakistan.

WaPo accused major Indian television channels of airing dramatic but false claims, which included fake footage and exaggerated declarations of victory. Interestingly, while WaPo’s journalist made grand claims of unchecked “hypernationalism” on Indian TV, they themselves forgot to verify their own WhatsApp forwards.

Yes, you read that right.

At the heart of its report was a sensational anecdote. A journalist allegedly received a WhatsApp message from Prasar Bharati, India’s public broadcaster, claiming Pakistan’s Army chief had been arrested in a coup. The story took off from there and the author blamed Indian journalists for running with it.

However, there was a slight problem. In its correction, The Washington Post has now admitted that the message did not come from the official channel of Prasar Bharati. The information was solely based on what the recipient claimed. There was no record, no verification, no second source. Just hearsay on an encrypted app. In the correction, WaPo now claims that the information was passed on by “an employee of Prasar Bharati”. Which employee? There is no information on that.

WaPo has also included a statement from Prasar Bharati where the broadcaster categorically denied putting out any such information during the conflict. The broadcaster “ensured that no unverified information [was] shared on any of its platforms” and stated that it has a “stringent in-house mechanism of fact-checking”.

False attribution to Indian channels quietly removed

From there, the article moved on to another falsehood. WaPo falsely attributed a claim to TV9 Bharatvarsh, suggesting that the channel reported that Pakistan’s Prime Minister had surrendered. This has been quietly scrubbed from the text. One would imagine a Pulitzer-contending newsroom might double-check before accusing another broadcaster of airing surrender declarations during a time of conflict. But perhaps that standard only applies to those being accused, not those doing the accusing.

Sudan scenes that never aired

The report also falsely stated that Indian news channels aired scenes from the Sudan conflict, which, again, turned out to be false. That line has now been removed in the corrected version.

Lost in translation – mistranslating Hindi phrases

Then came the most telling bit. The mischaracterisation of Hindi phrases. According to WaPo, Indian networks declared that “major Pakistani cities had been destroyed”. This, too, had to be corrected. Anyone with a working knowledge of Indian TV and even a basic grasp of Hindi would understand that phrases like “Karachi main tabahi” (destruction in Karachi) are colloquial expressions of chaos, not a declaration that the city has been razed to the ground.

However, for WaPo, it seems, “tabahi” translated directly to “complete destruction”. Either Google Translate was used or AI was asked to verbatim translate the reports by Hindi news channels. After all, WaPo cannot afford to hire someone familiar with Indian dialects, not even on freelance terms.

A lesson in irony

In short, the article that postured itself as a takedown of misinformation in Indian media during a crucial military episode stood as a rather ironic case study of how misinformation, disinformation and plain fiction can slip through even the hallowed halls of Western journalism. The story that was meant to shame Indian networks has ended up shaming its own editorial process.

Perhaps The Washington Post needs to introspect and work on its own journalistic ethics before pointing fingers at others.

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