Faking News, originally started as a form of blog,[ Affle appoints Rahul Roushan as head, content services afaqs.com. Retrieved 17 February 2013] was[ What a fake! thehindu.com. Retrieved 25 March 2013][ Piquant Punch outlookindia.com . Retrieved 17 February 2013] It was a critique of mainstream news media in India.[ Faking News: Making stuff up has never been so fun cnn.com . Retrieved 19 May 2013] The website also published occasional serious articles related to television journalism in India. The website was launched on September 15, 2008.[ About Us | Faking News- About us fakingnews.com''. Retrieved 17 February 2013]
It was founded by Rahul Roushan, a Delhi based management consultant, known by the pseudonym Pagal Patrakar, a Hindi language term that literally translates to 'crazy/mad journalist' in English language.[ Exclusive Interview with Pagal Patrakar of Faking News blog.blogadda.com. Retrieved 17 February 2013]
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 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 Firstpost.
News taken seriously
Two of the fake news reports by Faking News, "Unable to attract even a single girl, frustrated man sues Axe"
[ ABC Media Watch: Loveless Fake Attracts the Media abc.net.au. Retrieved 19 May 2013] 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.
Subsequently, the Axe story was republished by many other websites and blogs in countries other than India, mistaking it to be a true story,
[ Fick inga brudar – stämmer Axe - Swedish website][ Man sues Lynx after failing to pull in seven years - The Daily Record][ Man sues over lack of 'Lynx effect' - Ananova (now removed)] twice by
The Times of India on May 27, 2011
and on September 25, 2011
making it an
urban legend.
Another Faking News report titled "Unable to figure out Google Wave, youngster kills himself"
was mistaken as being true by an Indian website Oneindia.in on November 10, 2009.
[ Vadodara youth kills himself over Google Wave - OneIndia.com (now removed)] 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.
[ Fog hits IRCTC website, claims committee report - India Today] 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.
[ When Gadkari’s legal team thought a Faking News story was real]
Achievements
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.
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
-
List of satirical magazines
-
List of satirical news websites
-
List of satirical television news programs
External links
