Huffington Post has lost credibility<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.indiafacts.co.in\/myimages\/true.jpg\")
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\nAssertion:\u00a0<\/strong>On 2 December 2013, online news portal\u00a0Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>carried a story<\/a> on the world\u2019s richest leaders\/politicians, which listed the names of the most wealthy leaders in the world. Indian National Congress president Sonia Gandhi\u2019s<\/strong> name figured at #12 in this list.<\/p>\nThe\u00a0Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>story pegged her net worth at US $2 billion. It published her picture\u2013like it did of others on the list\u2013with the following text:<\/p>\nCongress Party President Sonia Gandhi smiles as she prepares to deliver a speech during aceremony celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of former Congress Party president and freedom fighter Motilal Nehru in New Delhi on September 25, 2012.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>also claimed that \u201cFor comparison, each country\u2019s GDP per capita is juxtaposed with a leader\u2019s personal net worth, just to show how different life is for the haves and have-nots,\u201d and that \u201cUnsurprisingly, many of their countries\u2019 citizens lead much, much humbler lives.\u201d<\/p>\nFacts<\/strong><\/p>\nThis story went viral on the Internet and was shared by\u00a0Firstpost\u00a0<\/em><\/a>among other news outlets in India. The weekly magazine\u00a0India Today\u00a0<\/em>did a nearly-instant rebuttal <\/a>of\u00a0Huffington Post\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>claim about Sonia Gandhi\u2019s net worth and found that it had not disclosed the methodology that led to placing Sonia at the 12th place.<\/p>\nBe that as it may, Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>eventually took down her name from its list and issued the following regret note from the editor:<\/p>\nSonia Gandhi and the former emir of Qatar Hamid bin Khalifa al-Thani have been removed from this list. Gandhi was originally included based on a listing on a third party site which was subsequently called into question.<\/strong> Our editors have been unable to verify the amount, removed the link, and regret any confusion.\u00a0[Emphasis added]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe significant point here is not the regret note but the\u00a0source\u00a0<\/em>that Huffpost claims it relied on to compute Sonia Gandhi\u2019s personal wealth. That source, linked from the original Huffpost<\/a> piece, is a website named\u00a0Celebrity Networth<\/a>. Interestingly, this is what the Celebrity Networth\u00a0<\/em>entry on Sonia Gandhi says:<\/p>\nSonia\u2019s wealth is largely derived from her late husband and his family. She personally states her wealth to be between $200,000 and $500,000, but several sources including OpenSecrets.org, HuffingtonPost and Business Insider<\/strong> have estimated that Sonia\u2019s actual wealth could be as low as $2 billion and might be as high as $19 billion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nTo spell out what has happened here: Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>has linked to a\u00a0Celebrity Networth <\/em>piece\u00a0as its source and the same Celebrity Networth\u00a0<\/em>piece quotes\u00a0Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>as its source!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>What is also interesting is that the\u00a0Celebrity Networth\u00a0<\/em>piece does not have a dateline nor links or documents or facts to state how it arrived at the figure.<\/p>\nGiven all this, the regret note issued by\u00a0Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>sounds insincere and seems to be a beleaguered reaction to people catching its bluff.<\/p>\nVerdict<\/strong><\/p>\nIt\u2019s worth reexamining the wording of the Huffpost<\/em> regret note:<\/p>\nGandhi was originally included based on a listing on a third party site which was subsequently called into question.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nTwo things stand out in this:<\/p>\n
1. That the researchers\/editors who visited the third party site\u2013which Huffpost\u00a0<\/em>had itself linked in its original version\u2013did a shoddy job of fact-checking.<\/p>\n2. That the regret note smacks of insincerity because the \u201cthird party site which was called into question\u201d quotes\u00a0Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>to buttress its own claim! Are we to believe that the Huffpost<\/em> researchers didn\u2019t read the name of their own paper before linking it as a source?<\/p>\nIt is clear from the aforementioned facts that\u00a0Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>has violated the most basic norm of journalism: fact-checking. If that was not enough, its apology\/regret too reflects this same lackadaisical approach towards journalism. It is thus quite clear that\u00a0Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>has lost credibility.<\/p>\nIndiaFacts\u00a0<\/em>Fact Meter verdict:\u00a0True.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n– See more at: http:\/\/www.indiafacts.co.in\/huffington-post-has-lost-credibility\/#sthash.q0VHjGSe.dpuf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u090f\u0915 \u0905\u092e\u0930\u0940\u0915\u0940 \u092a\u0924\u094d\u0930\u093f\u0915\u093e \u0939\u092b\u093f\u0928\u094d\u0917\u091f\u0928\u00a0 \u0928\u0947 \u0905\u092a\u0928\u0947 \u0968 \u0926\u093f\u0938\u0902\u092c\u0930 \u0968\u0966\u0967\u0969 \u0915\u0947 \u0905\u0902\u0915 \u092e\u0948\u0902 \u0938\u094b\u0928\u093f\u092f\u093e \u0917\u093e\u0901\u0927\u0940 \u0915\u094b… more
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Assertion:\u00a0<\/strong>On 2 December 2013, online news portal\u00a0Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>carried a story<\/a> on the world\u2019s richest leaders\/politicians, which listed the names of the most wealthy leaders in the world. Indian National Congress president Sonia Gandhi\u2019s<\/strong> name figured at #12 in this list.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>story pegged her net worth at US $2 billion. It published her picture\u2013like it did of others on the list\u2013with the following text:<\/p>\n Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi smiles as she prepares to deliver a speech during aceremony celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of former Congress Party president and freedom fighter Motilal Nehru in New Delhi on September 25, 2012.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>also claimed that \u201cFor comparison, each country\u2019s GDP per capita is juxtaposed with a leader\u2019s personal net worth, just to show how different life is for the haves and have-nots,\u201d and that \u201cUnsurprisingly, many of their countries\u2019 citizens lead much, much humbler lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Facts<\/strong><\/p>\n This story went viral on the Internet and was shared by\u00a0Firstpost\u00a0<\/em><\/a>among other news outlets in India. The weekly magazine\u00a0India Today\u00a0<\/em>did a nearly-instant rebuttal <\/a>of\u00a0Huffington Post\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>claim about Sonia Gandhi\u2019s net worth and found that it had not disclosed the methodology that led to placing Sonia at the 12th place.<\/p>\n Be that as it may, Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>eventually took down her name from its list and issued the following regret note from the editor:<\/p>\n Sonia Gandhi and the former emir of Qatar Hamid bin Khalifa al-Thani have been removed from this list. Gandhi was originally included based on a listing on a third party site which was subsequently called into question.<\/strong> Our editors have been unable to verify the amount, removed the link, and regret any confusion.\u00a0[Emphasis added]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The significant point here is not the regret note but the\u00a0source\u00a0<\/em>that Huffpost claims it relied on to compute Sonia Gandhi\u2019s personal wealth. That source, linked from the original Huffpost<\/a> piece, is a website named\u00a0Celebrity Networth<\/a>. Interestingly, this is what the Celebrity Networth\u00a0<\/em>entry on Sonia Gandhi says:<\/p>\n Sonia\u2019s wealth is largely derived from her late husband and his family. She personally states her wealth to be between $200,000 and $500,000, but several sources including OpenSecrets.org, HuffingtonPost and Business Insider<\/strong> have estimated that Sonia\u2019s actual wealth could be as low as $2 billion and might be as high as $19 billion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To spell out what has happened here: Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>has linked to a\u00a0Celebrity Networth <\/em>piece\u00a0as its source and the same Celebrity Networth\u00a0<\/em>piece quotes\u00a0Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>as its source!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>What is also interesting is that the\u00a0Celebrity Networth\u00a0<\/em>piece does not have a dateline nor links or documents or facts to state how it arrived at the figure.<\/p>\n Given all this, the regret note issued by\u00a0Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>sounds insincere and seems to be a beleaguered reaction to people catching its bluff.<\/p>\n Verdict<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s worth reexamining the wording of the Huffpost<\/em> regret note:<\/p>\n Gandhi was originally included based on a listing on a third party site which was subsequently called into question.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Two things stand out in this:<\/p>\n 1. That the researchers\/editors who visited the third party site\u2013which Huffpost\u00a0<\/em>had itself linked in its original version\u2013did a shoddy job of fact-checking.<\/p>\n 2. That the regret note smacks of insincerity because the \u201cthird party site which was called into question\u201d quotes\u00a0Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>to buttress its own claim! Are we to believe that the Huffpost<\/em> researchers didn\u2019t read the name of their own paper before linking it as a source?<\/p>\n It is clear from the aforementioned facts that\u00a0Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>has violated the most basic norm of journalism: fact-checking. If that was not enough, its apology\/regret too reflects this same lackadaisical approach towards journalism. It is thus quite clear that\u00a0Huffington Post\u00a0<\/em>has lost credibility.<\/p>\n IndiaFacts\u00a0<\/em>Fact Meter verdict:\u00a0True.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n – See more at: http:\/\/www.indiafacts.co.in\/huffington-post-has-lost-credibility\/#sthash.q0VHjGSe.dpuf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u090f\u0915 \u0905\u092e\u0930\u0940\u0915\u0940 \u092a\u0924\u094d\u0930\u093f\u0915\u093e \u0939\u092b\u093f\u0928\u094d\u0917\u091f\u0928\u00a0 \u0928\u0947 \u0905\u092a\u0928\u0947 \u0968 \u0926\u093f\u0938\u0902\u092c\u0930 \u0968\u0966\u0967\u0969 \u0915\u0947 \u0905\u0902\u0915 \u092e\u0948\u0902 \u0938\u094b\u0928\u093f\u092f\u093e \u0917\u093e\u0901\u0927\u0940 \u0915\u094b… more