Times of India

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RIGHT-CENTER BIAS

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: RIGHT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: MIXED
Country: India
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: MODERATE FREEDOM
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: MEDIUM CREDIBILITY

History

The Times of India(TOI) is an Indian daily newspaper owned by The Times Group. The Times of India launched in 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce.

The Times of India focuses on news, politics, sports, entertainment, business, and technology. The Times Group owns the Times of India via its digital arm, Times Internet. The Sahu Jain family owns the Times Group. Indu Jain is the Chairperson of The Times Group (Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd). Currently, the editor-in-chief is Jaideep Bose.

Read our report on how Government influences media in India.

Funded by / Ownership

The Times Group (Bennett Coleman and Company Limited) is the owner. The Times Group is India’s largest media and entertainment group. The Times of India generates revenue from online advertising and subscriptions. The Bureau of Outreach & Communication details the guidelines for Government advertising, which consists of a significant portion of advertising revenue for Indian Newspapers.

Analysis / Bias

Reporters Without Borders ranked India 142 in their Press Freedom Index, which is borderline completely lacking press freedom.

In review, according to The Wire, “most newspapers in India would be completely unprofitable were it not for government advertising and other kinds of rent that they are able to collect. Bloomberg reports, “India’s government spent $640 million on advertisements.” Therefore, the media must be close to the ruling governments. Further, paid news, which is defined as an “organized practice in Indian newspapers and other media outlets, where news space and favorable coverage is exchanged for money,” is still practiced.

The Times of India publishes articles with emotionally loaded language and with a pro-Narendra Modi tone (Current Prime Minister and right-wing nationalist party BJP leader) such as “When presidents held umbrellas for Modi” and “Making India $5 trillion economy challenging but achievable.”

When it comes to sourcing, they often hyperlink to themselves and other credible sources through quotes, such as the BBC. When covering world news about the USA, they cover the Trump admin with a negative tone, such as in this article “India suffers collateral damage in Trump’s trade war against China, Mexico.”

In general, there is little press freedom in India; therefore, the papers, including the TOI, reports news in favor of the ruling party. In this case, the ruling party is right-leaning and hence the bias of the Times of India.

Failed Fact Checks

• Published a 2017 video of two policemen in China roughly pushing and shoving a woman carrying a toddler to the pavement, as recent. – False
• Wife of a Google employee escaped from quarantine in Bangalore and fled to Agra – False
• A ‘time capsule’ under Ayodhya Ram Mandir’s foundation – False
• Anju Bobby George, Olympian long jumper and India’s first athletics medalist at the World Championship is joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – False
• ‘Karachi Rains: When roads became diving pools for citizens. Several such videos of major water-logging from the capital city are being shared on social media’. – False

Overall, we rate The Times of India Right-Center Biased based on reporting and story selection that favors the right-leaning ruling party. We also rate them Mixed for factual reporting due to four failed fact checks. (M. Huitsing 6/19/2019) Updated (12/14/2022)

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com