NYT got it wrong—again?

Did India and Pakistan both exaggerate their strikes? NYT’s article says no, but the headline says otherwise. Here’s what they’re missing.

Transcript

00:00India and Pakistan talked big, but satellite imagery shows limited damage.

00:05This recent headline from the New York Times caught my eye.

00:08At first glance, it might seem harmless, but look closer and you'll notice something is off.

00:14It implies that India and Pakistan both exaggerated the scale of the military actions,

00:18making it sound like two kids boasting about winning a school fight.

00:22But here's the problem.

00:23When you actually read the article, the headline doesn't match the story so much.

00:26India clearly proved its claim.

00:28The only claim it made of precise strikes on specific Pakistani military targets.

00:32Satellite images support this, showing clear evidence of India's successful strikes.

00:37On the other hand, Pakistan has not provided any credible proof of its claims

00:41that it hit Indian military air stations.

00:43This lack of evidence makes the New York Times attempt to hyphenate the two countries monsensical.

00:48The NYT article says satellite imagery indicates that while the attacks were widespread,

00:53the damage was far more contained than claimed

00:55and appeared mostly inflicted by India on Pakistani facilities.

00:59It goes on to add where India appears to have had a clear edge

01:02is in its targeting of Pakistan's military facilities and airfields

01:05as the latter stretch of fighting shifted from symbolic strikes

01:09and shows of force to attacks on each other's defence capabilities.

01:12But that's exactly what India has claimed it has done.

01:15The NYT story then says satellite images of the sites Pakistan claimed to have hit are limited

01:20and so far do not clearly show damage caused by Pakistani strikes even at bases

01:25where there was corroborating evidence of some military action.

01:28So to say satellite imagery shows limited damage in the headline, I don't think makes a lot of sense.

01:33Unfortunately, this isn't new.

01:35Western media, especially outlets like the New York Times, have a history of misrepresenting or simplifying stories from India.

01:41Remember when India successfully sent a spacecraft to Mars in 2014?

01:45The New York Times published a cartoon showing a poor Indian man with a cow knocking at the door of a fancy space club.

01:51Instead of celebrating India's achievement, the cartoon highlighted outdated stereotypes about poverty.

01:56Even with Kashmir or Indian politics, Western coverage often oversimplifies complex situations,

02:02making it sound like easy-to-digest stories of heroes versus villains.

02:06So coming back to today's headline, it continues that same pattern by lumping India and Pakistan together.

02:13It kind of wrongly suggests both countries are equally exaggerating or irresponsible, ignoring real security concerns and verifiable facts.

02:21Objectivity means being fair, accurate and thoughtful.

02:26By repeatedly falling back on oversimplified and stereotyped narratives,

02:29the New York Times is ignoring the very principle of fairness that they proudly claim to uphold.

02:34I'm Manish Avikari.

02:36First things fast.