India Today editor Arun Purie in plagiarism row

Bangalore, Oct 16:  Aroon Purie, prominent journalist and the current Editor-in-Chief of the leading weekly magazine, India Today, has been hit by a plagiarism scandal.

A Kerala-based media watchdog, CounterMedia, has found that the opening paragraph of Purie's latest editorial on the iconic south Indian actor, Rajnikanth, was identical to the one published by Slate, an US-based online Magazine.

The only difference between Slate's copy, written by Grady Hendrix, and the one written by Purie for the southern edition of the magazine is that the capitalisation of the word 'Superstar'. While Hendrix's copy reads 'SUPERSTAR', Purie reproduced it as 'Superstar'.

The plagiarism row has now hit the internet. While some media blogs have speculated that it could have been a cruel joke played by Purie's editorial staff, others slam the Doon School-educated London School of Economics-graduate's alleged deed.

The opening para of Hendrix's piece, titled 'Superstar Rajinikanth' 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!"

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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