Faking News, originally started as a form of blog, was an

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

news satire News satire or news comedy is a type of parody presented in a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content. News satire has been around almost as long as journalism itself, but it is particularly popular on t ...

website that published fake news reports containing satire on politics and society of India.What a fake!
''thehindu.com. Retrieved 25 March 2013 It was a critique of mainstream news media in India. The website also published occasional serious articles related to television

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

in India. The website was launched on September 15, 2008. It was founded by Rahul Roushan, a

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

based management consultant, known by the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

''Pagal Patrakar'', a

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

term that literally translates to 'crazy/mad journalist' in English. Faking News was one of the few websites or blogs in India using the tools of

sarcasm Sarcasm is the caustic use of words, often in a humorous way, to mock someone or something. Sarcasm may employ ambivalence, although it is not necessarily ironic. Most noticeable in spoken word, sarcasm is mainly distinguished by the inflectio ...

and humour to publish news satire, as is widely done in western countries, a trend pioneered by ''

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is currently based in Chicago, but originated as a weekly print publication ...

'' of the US. On 31 May 2013, it was announced that Faking News had been acquired by

Network 18 Network18 Media & Investments Limited, (d/b/a Network18 Group) is an Indian media conglomerate owned by the Reliance Industries, headed by Mukesh Ambani. Rahul Joshi is the managing director, chief executive officer and group editor-in-chief, a ...

-led

First Post ''The First Post'' was a British daily online news magazine based in London. Launched in August 2005, it was sold to Dennis Publishing in 2008 and retitled ''The Week'' at the end of 2014. In its current format, it publishes news, current af ...

News taken seriously

Two of the fake news reports by Faking News, "Unable to attract even a single girl, frustrated man sues

Axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

" 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

story was republished by many other websites and blogs in countries other than India, mistaking it to be a true story, twice by ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' on May 27, 2011 and on September 25, 2011 making it an

urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

. 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. 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 ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

''. In another instance on May 28, 2014, legal team of BJP leader

Nitin Gadkari Nitin Jairam Gadkari (; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician who serves as the 40th Minister of Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India since 2014. He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways, current ...

quoted a Faking News article in their defence, mistaking it as a true news report, while arguing a defamation case.

Achievements

* Faking News' Rahul Roushan created a full page 'Parody Times' in India's leading newspaper ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

'' on September 2, 2012 as a spoof of a front page of the same newspaper.

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.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.fakingnews.com News blogs Indian satirical websites News parodies Indian comedy websites Internet properties established in 2008

News taken seriously

Achievements

Closing down

See also

References

External links