Thou shalt not mock Anant Ambani: Eight websites delete articles about his speech - Alt News
Arjun Sidharth
5th January 2018 / 9:20 pm
Anant Ambani, son of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, at an event to mark the 40th anniversary of the Reliance group gave a speech that took social media by storm.
Anant’s energetic delivery was the top trend on social media, as twitterati went berserk with their memes on the Ambani scion mocking him over his style of speech.
Anant Ambani’s speech was awesome. Especially the parts where he had the SAME expressions I do when I accidentally stub my toe on a piece of furniture. pic.twitter.com/wk5qdIly6n
— Akshar (@AksharPathak) January 2, 2018
Black Mirror S04E06 #BlackMuseum feat. Anant Ambani is just superb. pic.twitter.com/YniF0cdaOc
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) January 3, 2018
Remember The Baby Dragon From #GameofThrones ? This is him now.
feeling old yet ? pic.twitter.com/q9MWibbX8D
— Freelance 007 (@James_Beyond) January 3, 2018
The popularity of the speech and the reactions it garnered on social media was newsworthy enough for publications like ScoopWhoop, DailyO and Storypick all of which covered the story on their website.
The story however did not stay on air for long. ScoopWhoop deleted the article not long after it had been posted.
Another portal, Storypick, whose story was in fact sympathetic to Anant Ambani too developed cold feet and pulled down the article.
DailyO mocked these two publications for deleting the story. In its article it said, ‘Cut to 2018, and a Google search on Anant Ambani now throws up a few more articles, two of which (from ScoopWhoop and StoryPick) have now mysteriously disappeared. Why the sudden spike in popularity for the Young Ambani of House Reliance Jio? As it turns out, he’s become a meme’
Ironically, DailyO was next to bite the dust, quietly deleting the article. Among the other publications which pulled down their article on Anant Ambani’s speech were MensXP, Nyoooz.com, The Social Monk, Social Samosa and International Business Times.
On the other hand, certain publications covered the story positively and those articles are still intact. The headline for the Economic Times article read ’40 years of Reliance: Anant Ambani gives rousing speech’.
Earlier in 2013 when reports emerged that Mukesh Ambani’s son was allegedly behind the wheel of the Aston Martin that crashed into another vehicle, news organisations which initially covered the story later dropped it. While organisations like NDTV have preserved the story on Anant Ambani on their website, it is undeniable that there is generally an eerie, consensual silence among mainstream media organisations when it comes to reportage over the Ambani family or Reliance Industries. The compulsion for the quiet retraction may never be revealed, but the influence and power that a corporate giant like Reliance wields and the close nexus between corporate and media houses in general often makes it obligatory for the latter to go soft on reporting news and events that may even remotely be indicative of criticism or mockery.
Arjun Sidharth is a writer with Alt News. He has previously worked in the television news industry, where he managed news bulletins and breaking news scenarios, apart from scripting numerous prime time television stories. He has also been actively involved with various freelance projects. Sidharth has studied economics, political science, international relations and journalism. He has a keen interest in books, movies, music, sports, politics, foreign policy, history and economics. His hobbies include reading, watching movies and indoor gaming.
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