What’s happening?
Ahead of a press conference on October 4, the Indian Air Force released a promotional video about the Balakot airstrike that was carried out in February on an objective in Pakistan in consequence of the Pulwama terror attack.
What are they claiming?
Despite all of this, several media outlets reported the representational video as real footage that offered evidence of the airstrike in Pakistan.
Republic TV played the footage as “IAF’s Balakot proof.” “It is high time we start speaking about what we have done,” declared the channel’s consulting editor Major Gaurav Arya. “In today’s world, where social media and mainstream media are so active, it was also a weapon of war…I have not seen the video, but I am aware of its content…They should make more such videos and spread awareness among the people and also amongst the enemies because they have been fed a certain diet of propaganda…”
IAF releases Balakot video, Major Gaurav Arya calls it a positive move https://t.co/pS7EPFlQEv
— Republic (@republic) October 4, 2019
While neither the anchor nor Arya mentioned that the video was representational, the channel flashed the world’s promotional video a few times on the screen even as it described it as proof of the Balakot airstrike.
ABP News described the video as “exclusive footage” and asserted, “Pakistan used to say that only trees were fallen, but you can see the extent of damage caused by the IAF in terrorist camps…this video is proof” [translated from Hindi]. However, a disclaimer flashed by the channel for a fraction of a second specified that the video is promotional.
Zee News also carried the misinformation. Its tweet and article headline called the video the “first footage which gives proof” of the Balakot airstrike. Zee News has now updated its story with the article correctly, reflecting that the video is a promotion. However, it did not provide clarification for this.
बालाकोट में एयर स्ट्राइक का पहला VIDEO जारी, वायुसेना की फिल्म में हमले के सबूत#AirStrike #Balakot @IAF_MCC https://t.co/3wcum52tyM
— Zee News Hindi (@ZeeNewsHindi) October 4, 2019
Zee MP-Chhattisgarh and Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand also claimed to have accessed an exclusive video. Oneindia Hindi said the footage was “evidence” of the Indian Air Force attack.
Punjab Kesari wrote a headline in Hindi, “Airstrike video released. See how we entered Pakistan and killed terrorists.” However, the word “promotional” did find a subtle mention in the article.
A PTI story published by media outlets like Firstpost and Business Standard claimed, “Ahead of the press conference, the IAF also showed video clips of the Balakot strikes.” The word “promotional” did not appear in the article.
Gujarati media outlets Gujarat Samachar and TV9 Gujarati also carried reports without mentioning in their headlines that it was a promotion. While the former claimed in its article that the video was indeed promotional but included “real” footage, TV9 Gujarati asserted throughout its report that the video depicted the actual airstrike.
However, the channel’s YouTube and Facebook posts mentioned the word “promotional.”
Some Marathi media outlets such as News18 Lokmat and Loksatta also gave credence to the misinformation.
A broadcast by India Today, while describing the video as “promotional,” also called it “proof” of Balakot airstrike.
The Tribune’s Ajay Banerjee described the footage as a “graphic shot of its [IAF] planes destroying terror camp at Balakot.”
#AirForceDay2019 IAF showing video graphic shot of its planes destroying terror camp at Balakot Pakistan on Feb 26 this year. @IAF_MCC @thetribunechd @DefenceMinIndia
— Ajay Banerjee (@ajaynewsman) October 4, 2019
Tweeted Times Now with a poster of its daily prime time show with Rahul Shivshankar, “.@IAF_MCC releases Balakot video. ‘Doubters’ didn’t believe PM @NarendaModi. Will they also doubt Uniform?”
What’s the truth?
During the attack, there had been some skepticism about what targets India had boycotted. While India said its bombs had destroyed a terror training camp, Pakistan claimed that only some trees had been hit.
Conclusion
A defense correspondent with WION, Sidhant Sibal, tweeted that the Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria clarified during the press conference that there were “no shots of Balakot strikes in the video.”
BBC journalist Jugal R Purohit also said the same thing.
Everyone, pls calm down. The IAF didn’t release a ‘Balakot video’. A promotional film being shown at the start of his press conference was misreported. Air Chiefs words, “All that had to be released has been released. This is NOT that footage”.
— Jugal R Purohit (@jugalrp) October 4, 2019
ANI uploaded the footage released by the Air Force, specifying that it is a promotional clip showcasing the Balakot aerial strike.
#WATCH Indian Air Force showcases the story of the Balakot aerial strikes in a promotional video at the annual Air Force Day press conference by Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria. pic.twitter.com/GBRWwWe6sJ
— ANI (@ANI) October 4, 2019
This article first appeared on Alt News.
