New Delhi, Jan 16: The alleged WhatsApp chats of Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic TV with former CEO of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), which were leaked on social media, suggest that the controversial journalist was least stricken by the news of Pulwama attack which shook the entire conscience of the country, on February 2014.
Pratik Sinha, co-founder of Altnews, shared a part from the leaked messages wherein Arnab express his joy over the "massive spike" in viewership through the coverage of the terrorist attack.
On the day of attack, at 4:19 PM, Arnab was allegedly saying to Partho: Sir 20 min ahead on the biggest terrorist attack of the year in Kashmir…only only channel with a ground presence.
After a while at 5.43 PM, he was saying: Have planned some build-up thing after we spoke. Idea to gain massive spike. So used his (Prime Minister Narendra Modi's) speech and pushed it by a bit."
This is what nationalism is supposed to be?
"This attack we have won like crazy"
40 Jawans lost their lives. pic.twitter.com/LNmxyl7878
— Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) January 15, 2021
It is a known fact that the media benefit from the public's eagerness to obtain information about terrorist attacks. For sensationalist TV channels and newspapers, the fear and fascination generated by terrorism is a substantial part of their business.
"This attack we have won like crazy," the anchor allegedly said in the wake of the attack which killed 40 soldiers.
The leaked-chats is the latest development in the ongoing TRP scam case in which several television channels are accused of manipulating viewership data by bribing the audience.
Many other messages between the anchor and the officer suggest that Goswami was in close proximity with the power corridors at the Centre.
Arnab's WhatsApp chat leaked. The data is more than of 80 MB.
These are few screenshots of Arnab asking help from PMO. pic.twitter.com/YCzGUJ0tcD
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) January 15, 2021
Social media is intrigued over the abbreviation "AS" used in the chats denoting powerful persons.
The alleged leak will bother both Arnab Goswami and Whatsapp, at least for a few days, which has been repeatedly claiming that messages in the platform and cannot be viewed by a third party. The Facebook owned platform had given a first page advertisement in all leading newspapers in India to reassert its claims on ensuring privacy of the consumers.
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