Last night on its primetime show, Times Now broadcast yet another "EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS" story, a story they deemed so vital to national interest that you'd think it would be splashed across the front pages of leading newspapers this morning.
You would be wrong.
Here's what happened on Times Now's show.
“Viewers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s life is in grave danger!” began anchor Rahul Shivshankar who went on to explain how the National Investigation Agency has received a “chilling threat mail” from an anonymous email address saying “kill Narendra Modi”.
Shivshankar and Navika Kumar did not forget to defend the prime minister by inserting how Modi has won two elections, with the Bharatiya Janata Party securing over 38 percent of the popular vote. They also reminded viewers that minorities no longer dislike Modi because his Muslim support base has gone up from four percent to nine percent.
As per usual, Times Now's hashtag reflected the gravity of the situation — #KillModiPlotLetter — with tickers like "NIA authenticates moral threat". Shivshankar also read out a letter issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs after the NIA briefed the home minister’s office on it.
So, did this "shocking news" take over the front pages of newspapers this mornings?
Both Times Now and the Times of India, one of India's most widely circulated newspapers, are owned by parent company Times Group. Unfortunately, despite the earnest and enthusiastic efforts of Times Now's anchors, not even the Times of India found the news worthy enough of front page coverage.
Instead, its front page real estate was devoted to the ongoing conflict between India and China, how Narendra Modi's Twitter account was hacked, Facebook's ban on BJP's T Raja Singh, and even a snippet under the masthead of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson testing positive for Covid.
The Times of India's web edition did carry a video on its website of Times Now's coverage.
Apart from Times Now, the "plot" was also briefly reported by Zee News and ABP News and right-wing blog OpIndia. The New Indian Express carried a short report on the same and cited their source as “sources within the security establishment”.
Also Read: Why the #PlotToKillPM seems quite dubious
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