Faking News

Faking News, originally started as a form of blog,[1] was[2] an Indian news satire website that published fake news reports containing satire on politics and society of India.[3][4] It was a critique of mainstream news media in India.[5] The website also published occasional serious articles related to television journalism in India. The website was launched on September 15, 2008.[6]

Faking News
TypeNews Satire
FormatNewspaper
Owner(s)Network 18 Group
Founder(s)Rahul Roushan
Founded15 September 2008 (2008-09-15)
Ceased publication11 July 2020
Websitefakingnews.com

It was founded by Rahul Roushan, a Delhi based management consultant, known by the pseudonym Pagal Patrakar, a Hindi term that literally translates to 'crazy/mad journalist' in English.[3][7] Faking News was one of the few websites or blogs in India using the tools of sarcasm and humour to publish news satire, as is widely done in the western countries, a trend pioneered by The Onion of the US.

On 31 May 2013, it was announced that Faking News had been acquired by Network 18-led First Post.[8]

News taken seriously

Two of the fake news reports by Faking News, "Unable to attract even a single girl, frustrated man sues Axe"[3][9] and "Men talking loud on mobile during movies have smaller penises", were mistaken as being genuine and factual news reports by an Indian website Indiainfo.com on October 21, 2009 and were republished on their website.[10][11] Subsequently, the Axe story was republished by many other websites and blogs in countries other than India, mistaking it to be a true story,[12][13][14][15][16][17] twice by The Times of India on May 27, 2011[18] and on September 25, 2011[19] making it an urban legend.[20] Another Faking News report titled "Unable to figure out Google Wave, youngster kills himself"[3] was mistaken as being true by an Indian website Oneindia.in on November 10, 2009.[21] Another instance of a Faking News article being taken seriously took place on December 22, 2013, when a satire article "IRCTC website running slow due to fog: committee report" was published as real news report by news magazine India Today.[22] In another instance on May 28, 2014, legal team of BJP leader Nitin Gadkari quoted a Faking News article in their defence, mistaking it as a true news report, while arguing a defamation case.[23]

Achievements
  • Faking News' Rahul Roushan created a full page 'Parody Times' in India's leading newspaper Hindustan Times on September 2, 2012 as a spoof of a front page of the same newspaper.[24]

Closing down

Faking news was closed down in July 2020. There are many reasons attributed towards the closing of this website but the company has not come out with any official statement. The most common reason is believed to be low revenue.[25] It had over 370k visitors on its website and the revenue from google AdSense was very low. Another reason being attributed is the lack of creative content.

See also

References
  1. Affle appoints Rahul Roushan as head, content services afaqs.com. Retrieved 17 February 2013
  2. "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  3. What a fake! thehindu.com. Retrieved 25 March 2013
  4. Piquant Punch Archived 2012-10-13 at the Wayback Machine outlookindia.com. Retrieved 17 February 2013
  5. Faking News: Making stuff up has never been so fun cnn.com. Retrieved 19 May 2013
  6. About Us | Faking News- About us fakingnews.com. Retrieved 17 February 2013
  7. Exclusive Interview with Pagal Patrakar of Faking News blog.blogadda.com. Retrieved 17 February 2013
  8. "Faking News is now a part of Network 18's Firstpost". India. 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
  9. ABC Media Watch: Loveless Fake Attracts the Media abc.net.au. Retrieved 19 May 2013
  10. "Man sues Axe, as unable to get girl - Indiainfo.com (now removed)". Archived from the original on 2011-10-13. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
  11. "Loud men have smaller penises - Indiainfo.com (now removed)". Archived from the original on 2013-01-26. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  12. Demanda a Axe porque no conquistó chicas - Mexican website
  13. Fick inga brudar – stämmer Axe - Swedish website
  14. Man sues Lynx after failing to pull in seven years - The Daily Record
  15. Man sues over lack of 'Lynx effect' - Ananova (now removed)
  16. "After seven unlucky years, man sues for Axe 'failure' - The Australian (now removed)". Archived from the original on 2009-11-04. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
  17. "Man sues Lynx after \failing to get girl - ninemsn (now removed)". Archived from the original on 2009-11-03. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
  18. "Deo ads face the Axe effect (last paragraph) - The Times of India". Archived from the original on 2018-02-20. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
  19. "The bottomline: How far can naughty go? (fourth paragraph) - The Times of India". Archived from the original on 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
  20. "'Axe Effect' Lawsuit in India a Hoax - Asylum.com". Archived from the original on 2014-08-18. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
  21. Vadodara youth kills himself over Google Wave - OneIndia.com (now removed)
  22. Fog hits IRCTC website, claims committee report - India Today
  23. When Gadkari’s legal team thought a Faking News story was real
  24. Spoof Alert Hindustan Times
  25. "What Happened To FakingNews Website? Why FakingNews Has Stopped Working? Is FakingNews Dead? > AllTimeTrends". AllTimeTrends. 2020-08-28. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
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