‘Progressive’ Shiv Sena? NYT Gets Flak for Arnab Tweet, Deletes It

A New York Times (NYT) tweet about Arnab’s arrest from Wednesday, 4 November, garnered significant flak and eventually had to be deleted.

(Photo: Mekhala Saran/The Quint)

A New York Times (NYT) tweet about Arnab Goswami’s arrest from Wednesday, 4 November, garnered significant flak and eventually had to be deleted.

Among other faux pas, NYT in its tweet had referred Shiv Sena, which is the ruling party in Maharashtra, as a “progressive political party”. The NYT article was titled ‘TV Journalist Is Arrested as Assaults on Press Freedom Rise in India’.

They tweeted a link to the article out with the following words:

“One of India’s most famous TV journalists, the conservative anchor Arnab Goswami, was arrested on charges of abetting a suicide in Mumbai, where a progressive political party is in power. The move was criticised by some as an attempt to muzzle the press.” 

The NYT had originally put out the tweet at 5:30 on Wednesday, 4 November.

NYT, however, later in the evening issued a clarification saying:

“An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the political party that currently controls Mumbai. It is an opposition party, not a progressive opposition party. The error was repeated in our tweet. We’ve deleted the incorrect tweet.”   

‘2020 - When Shiv Sena Became Progressive’: Twitter in Splits

But this entire episode with The New York Times’ tweet has triggered numerous reactions.

Some have found reference to Shiv Sena as a progressive party downright hilarious.

Yet others are very shocked.

There were yet others who mocked Goswami and said if he was a journalist, then Shiv Sena could as well be progressive.