Post Wire apology, Editors Guild retracts statement on Tek Fog, urges due diligence in reporting

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, Oct 28

The Editors Guild of India on Friday retracted its earlier statement in respect of concerns over an app called Tek Fog, which news portal The Wire had highlighted as a source of online harassment of women journalists in a series of reports it had done.

The Guild also called for extra caution in publication of investigative reports.

The Guild’s retraction follows a takedown of several stories by The Wire, which admitted that due processes of journalistic review were not followed in respect of a segment of investigative reports it published.

“The Guild had issued a statement on January 11, 2022, expressing deep concern about the online harassment and targeting of women journalists.

Amongst other instances, the statement had also referred to a series of reports carried by the Wire on an app called the Tek Fog. Since the Wire has removed those stories as part of their internal review following serious questions on the veracity of their reporting, the Guild withdraws the references made to all those reports,” a statement from the body said.

The Guild added that it was also disturbed by the recent turn of events with respect to the reports published by the Wire on Meta.

“The Guild is conscious of and emphasizes the need for extra care in investigative journalism, and urges newsrooms to resist the temptation of moving fast on sensitive stories, circumventing due journalistic norms and checks,” it said.

However, the Guild reiterated that online trolling of women journalists remains an important issue, and that better safeguards need to be put in place, including a strong and effective complaints and redressal system for the victims.

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