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Aaj Tak

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Aaj Tak
CountryIndia
Broadcast areaIndia and international
HeadquartersNoida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Programming
Language(s)Hindi
Picture format16:9 (1080i HDTV) 4:3 (576i SDTV)
Ownership
OwnerLiving Media
Sister channelsIndia Today
Good News Today
History
Launched31 December 2000; 23 years ago (2000-12-31) (New Year's Eve 2000) SDTV
14 December 2018; 5 years ago (2018-12-14) HDTV
Links
WebcastAaj Tak LiveTV
Websitewww.aajtak.in
Availability
Streaming media
DD Free DishLCN 68
Jio TVJio TV+

Aaj Tak (transl. Until Today) is a Hindi-language news channel owned by the TV Today Network, a part of the New Delhi-based media conglomerate Living Media group (India Today Group). Noted for reporting in favor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, it has promoted disinformation on various occasions and has been fined for its communal reporting.[1][2][3]

Aaj Tak has faced criticism for reporting misinformation on various occasions.[4]

Aaj Tak HD

On 14 December 2018, Aaj Tak launched India's first Hindi high-definition channel, Aaj Tak HD.[5] Aaj Tak HD broadcasts news and two extra shows like Duniya Aaj Tak aired from 2019 (transl. World up to the minute) covering world news, Business Aaj Tak aired from 2019 (transl. Business up to the minute) covering the financial news of India and the world.

Aaj Tak HD also broadcast Movie Masala between 2019 and 2020 (transl. Movie Spice), covering the news of Bollywood.

History

Logo formerly used by Aaj Tak

Aaj Tak was first broadcast on DD Metro of Doordarshan (DD) in 1995. It was then broadcast as a news programme of 10 to 20 minutes. Aaj Tak came into existence in December 2000 as an independent news channel. It then became the first complete Hindi news channel in the country to be broadcast twenty-four hours. One of the anchors at the time was Surendra Pratap Singh.[6][7] The tagline for Aaj Tak was "यह थी ख़बर आज तक, इंतज़ार कीजिए कल तक" (transl. That's all the news for today, wait until tomorrow).[6] Aaj Tak was the first news channel in India to use OB vans.[8]

By the time the channel came into existence, it had a reach of 52 lakh households. It now broadcasts to three crore households and its viewership in news channels is 56%.[7] On 14 December 2018, Aaj Tak launched India's first Hindi high-definition channel, Aaj Tak HD.[5] A channel rebranding took place in January 2021.[9]

Staff

Executive staff

Past staff

Past anchors have included Rohit Sardana[11] and Surendra Pratap Singh.[6]Uday Shankar worked as a news director during the initial years of Aaj Tak.[8]

Reception

The channel has been penalized for the propagation of misinformation and criticised for its coverage being supportive of the ideology of the ruling government of BJP.[12][13]

In 2017, Aaj Tak was criticised for propagating a false claim that a fatwa allowed Saudi Arabian men to eat their wives. That same year, Aaj Tak also came under criticism for propagating a false claim that the Indian army had retaliated against Pakistan following attacks against Indian personnel in Kashmir.[4]

In October 2020, Aaj Tak was fined ₹1 lakh and asked to broadcast apologies for fake news regarding Sushant Singh Rajput. The channel published fabricated last tweets by the actor on the channel, claiming that they were made by him a few days before his death and then deleted. Aaj Tak later removed its article with this fake news published in it.[14]

Aaj Tak was fined ₹5 lakh by BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) for viewership manipulation in a TRP scam.[15]

Between 4 and 5 April 2020, Aaj Tak had broadcast reports about Tablighi Jamaat. A complaint was filed with the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) in which Aaj Tak was accused of intending to "develop hatred in the minds of the people against a particular community," during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.[16]

On 16 June 2021, the NBDSA directed that Aaj Tak's broadcasts be taken down from all Internet platforms that linked the COVID-19 outbreak with Tablighi Jamaat in 2020, citing potential "errors in the figures telecast".[17]

The NBDSA said that the media has "complete freedom to report on the COVID pandemic", but "such reporting must be done with accuracy, impartiality and neutrality", and added, " The NBDSA noted that the broadcaster had admitted that there may have been chances that there were some miscalculations as pointed out by the complaint, which was inadvertent, and the broadcaster had no intention to communalise the issue or malign any community."[18]

In June 2022, the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority said that Aaj Tak's taglines on Umar Khalid ‘gave an impression that the accused had already been declared guilty’ and asked the news channel to take down those shows.[19]

In March 2023, Aaj Tak faced widespread social media ridicule after the clip of its coverage went viral, where the channel's representatives were seen filming gangster Atiq Ahmed urinating while in transit from Gujarat to Prayagraj under the custody of police.[20]

A report by Bloomberg accused Aaj Tak of being "frequently laudatory of Modi".[21]


In March 2024, The News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDSA) fined Aaj Tak for Sudhir Chaudhary's 'tukde tukde' and 'Khalistani' remarks, against the former US president Barack Obama and penalised the channel over 'Love Jihad' shows.[22][23]

Aaj Tak has also been accused of foreign interference in the Canadian matters by the Rapid Response Mechanism Canada.[24][25]

Accolades

According to an old 2006 poll jointly conducted by the BBC and Reuters, of specific news sources spontaneously mentioned by the Indians, Aaj Tak (mentioned by 11%) was the most trusted.[26]

Aaj Tak has won the award for the "Best Hindi News Channel" 19 times, since 2001 at the Indian Television Academy Awards.[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ Kumar, Basant (24 December 2022). "Aaj Tak and India TV air BJP promotional content as news". Newslaundry.
  2. ^ "NBDSA takes action against three TV news channels for violating guidelines on communal issues". The Hindu. 1 March 2024.
  3. ^ Rodrigues, Usha; Maya, Ranganathan (2014). Indian News Media: From Observer to Participant. India: SAGE Publications. pp. 23–24, 165. ISBN 9789351501589.
  4. ^ a b "Top 12 fake news stories circulated by mainstream media in 2017". Newslaundry. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Aaj Tak launches first of its kind HD news channel - Aaj Tak HD". AdGully. 14 December 2018. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Singh, Dr Paramveer (5 August 2021). "8. India Today Group.". Indian Silver Screen. K.K. Publications. pp. 147–150. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Television". India Today Group. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  8. ^ a b Munshi, Shoma (15 December 2012). "1". Remote Control: Indian Television in the New Millennium. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-81-8475-755-2. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  9. ^ Baddhan, Lakh (21 January 2021). "Aaj Tak refreshes brand with new look for 20th anniversary". BizAsia. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  10. ^ Team, N. L. (11 July 2022). "'The natural home for a household name': Sudhir Chaudhary to join Aaj Tak as consulting editor". Newslaundry. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  11. ^ Bhati, Divya (2 May 2021). "RIP Aaj Tak TV Journalist Rohit Sardana died due to Heart Attack after suffering from Covid-19". jagrantv. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  12. ^ Suresh, Nidhi. "'Media has lost our trust': Why protesting farmers are angry with 'Godi media'". Newslaundry. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  13. ^ Scroll Staff. "Indians are expressing shock at news channel glee over demolition of Muslim activist's house". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  14. ^ "Aaj Tak fined Rs 1 lakh by NBSA for telecasting fake tweets on Sushant Singh Rajput's death". The New Indian Express. 8 October 2020. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  15. ^ Joshi, Neha (23 October 2020). "Aaj tak fined for viewership manipulation". Bar and Bench. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  16. ^ "News Body Directs Aaj Tak To Remove Tablighi Jamaat Content 1 Year After Damage Is Done". www.theswaddle.com.
  17. ^ "NBSA directs Aaj Tak to remove certain Tablighi Jamaat broadcasts from the website, YouTube". Newslaundry. 25 June 2021.
  18. ^ Team, N. L. (25 June 2021). "NBSA directs Aaj Tak to remove certain Tablighi Jamaat broadcasts from the website, YouTube". Newslaundry. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  19. ^ "Take down 'sensationalist' shows on Umar Khalid, regulator tells Zee, India TV, Aaj Tak". Newslaundry. 15 June 2022. Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  20. ^ Staff, J. K. R. (27 March 2023). ""Patrakarita or mootrakarita?": Aaj Tak faces widespread ridicule after it broadcasts gangster Ateek Ahmed's act of urinating LIVE". Janta Ka Reporter 2.0. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  21. ^ Palepu, Advait; Kay, Chris (26 February 2024). "Billionaire Press Barons Are Squeezing Media Freedom in India". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  22. ^ PTI. "NBDSA fines Aaj Tak for Sudhir Chaudhry's 'tukde tukde,' 'Khalistani' remarks against Obama; penalises channels over 'Love Jihad' shows". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  23. ^ Singh, Bhavya (1 March 2024). "NBDSA Penalises Aaj Tak For Sudhir Chaudhary Show Using 'Tukde Tukde Gang', 'Khalistani', 'Pakistani Supporters' Terms In Video On Obama". www.livelaw.in. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  24. ^ Mago, Shivani (18 October 2024). "Month-old Canadian report flagged posts, news from 'Modi-aligned media' as 'foreign interference'". ThePrint. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  25. ^ Seli, Yeshi (20 October 2024). "Canada's RRM report claims Indian media shaped negative narratives about Trudeau". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  26. ^ BBC/Reuters/Media Center Poll: Trust in the Media Archived 23 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine (pg. 13)
  27. ^ "Aaj Tak, India Today win most popular news channels at ITA Awards 2021; Aroon Purie conferred Hall of Fame award". Business Today. 14 February 2021. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.

Further reading

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