India Today editor Arun Purie in plagiarism row
A Kerala-based media watchdog, The opening para of Poorie's Letter from the Editor in the southern edition of the magazine reads:
"Jackie
Chan
is
the
highest-paid
actor
in
Asia,
and
that
makes
sense.
Besides
producing,
directing,
and
starring
in
his
own
action
movies
since
1980,
he's
earned
millions
in
Hollywood
with
blockbusters
like
Rush
Hour
and
The
Karate
Kid.
But
the
No.
2
spot
goes
to
someone
who
doesn't
make
any
sense
at
all.
The
second-highest-paid
actor
in
Asia
is
a
balding,
middle-aged
man
with
a
paunch,
hailing
from
the
Indian
state
of
Tamil
Nadu
and
sporting
the
kind
of
moustache
that
went
out
of
style
in
1986.
This
is
Rajinikanth,
and
he
is
no
mere
actor—he
is
a
force
of
nature.
If
a
tiger
had
sex
with
a
tornado
and
then
their
tiger-nado
baby
got
married
to
an
earthquake,
their
offspring
would
be
Rajinikanth.
Or,
as
his
films
are
contractually
obligated
to
credit
him,
"Superstar
Rajinikanth!"
India
Today
on
damage
control
India Today is expected to publish an apology in the next issue of the magazine.
The magazine was also quick to launch damage control when a website called Mumbai Boss published a story on the plagiarism row. Soon after the story on Purie's 'lifted' editorial was posted, the India Today Corporate Communications left a comment on the story page with an apology.
The apology read:
"There was an unfortunate incident with the Letter from the Editor in the southern edition of India Today's last issue. This was a mistake. We are printing an apology for it in the southern edition. Here is a preview for your information.
'Jet lag is clearly injurious to the health of journalism. I was in America, and still a bit bleary-eyed and sleep-deprived when we took an unusual decision: to split the cover. This is jargon for changing the cover for some editions; so while the content of the magazine remained the same worldwide, the cover that went to our readers in south India had displayed the phenomenal Rajinikanth, while our other readers saw Omar Abdullah on the cover. This meant writing two versions of 'Letter from the Editor'. Not being an acknowledged expert on the delightful southern superstar, I asked Delhi for some inputs. Unfortunately, a couple of sentences lifted from another article were sent to me. An excuse is not an explanation. So, without any reservations, mea culpa. Apologies.'
India Today Group Corporate Communication"
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