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Ajit Newspaper Caught Publishing Unverified Material

By PUNEET SINGH LAMBA

The Sikh Times, Jan. 1, 2012


Photo: The above is an image of the story as published in the Daily Ajit on January 1, 2012.


Photo: The original picture that was modified to create the picture published by the Daily Ajit without adequate verification.


Photo: Apology published by the Daily Ajit on January 4, 2012.

The Daily Ajit newspaper published a story in today's edition of its newspaper that shows U.S. President Barack Obama signing a document while standing in front of a picture of Guru Gobind Singh. However, the picture is a fake.

Due diligence performed by Pashaura Singh, professor at the University of California, Riverside, has helped to uncover an instance of poor journalism practiced by the Daily Ajit newspaper based in Jalandhar, Punjab, India.

Dr. Pashaura Singh, who also holds the Dr. Jasbir Singh Saini Endowed Chair at the university, posted a query on his Facebook page inquiring about the authenticity of the story published by the Daily Ajit newspaper.

Within a few hours, with help from John Warneke, it had been established that the photograph published by the Daily Ajit is a fake. Warneke, a research assistant at the University of California, Santa Barbara, provided a link to the original photograph as well as a link to a discussion on the doubtful authenticity of the modified photograph published by the Daily Ajit.

This newspaper is read by gullible Punjabis in and around Jalandhar who assume that everything published in a newspaper must be true. This particular piece is pretty harmless, but it gives you a sense of the kinds of liberties the Daily Ajit newspaper must be in the habit of taking with the truth.