Press Trust of India (PTI) fired a photographer who mislabeled and published 2015 Chennai airport images. The error originated when several users on Twitter spotted images showing an air-side view of a waterlogged Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad.
Here @indiatimes uses 2015 Chennai airport flooding images for Ahmedabad Airport flooding. https://t.co/yM66CqOScE https://t.co/28QQpwZpdV
— Raju Das | ৰাজু দাস (@rajudasonline) July 27, 2017
The Press Trust of India acknowledged the error on Friday and said it had terminated the services of the photographer. PTI responded after the matter got noticed by Smriti Irani, who is the newly appointed Information & Broadcasting Minister.
Attention: photographs of Chennai floods have been used and passed off as Ahmedabad @PTI_News Kindly alert all news establishments.
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) July 28, 2017
PTI deeply regrets the error and has terminated the services of the concerned photographer; @smritiirani and @shashidigital
Advertisement— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 28, 2017
A number of reputed publications including The Indian Express and The Hindustan Times had used the image on their front pages, many readers identified the images to be those of Chennai rather than Gujarat. The I & B minister then asked PTI to send a notification to media houses about the blunder.
Later, The Indian Express also tweeted about their error,
The PTI photo on #ExpressFrontPage is not of Ahmedabad airport. @PTI_News captioned it wrong & is investigating. We deeply regret the error.
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) July 28, 2017
As per the report, Ahmedabad airport was waterlogged due to heavy rains in Gujarat, leading to severe floods in the state. However, flights continue to run on time.
