FACT CHECK: Is Nidhi Razdan teaching at Harvard?
A picture of journalist Nidhi Razdan, the former executive editor of NDTV is circulating on social media.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 12 Nov 2021 11:51 AM GMT
HYDERABAD: A picture of journalist Nidhi Razdan, the former executive editor of NDTV is circulating on social media. Users claim that she was teaching journalism at Harvard. Razdan is seen standing near a projector that consists of points on "Ethics of Journalism" which is the topic for the lecture.
While some social media users mocked Nidhi for teaching 'ethics in journalism', the others questioned if this photograph was clicked in Harvard.
BJP Delhi spokesman Ajay Sehrwat and Author Shefali Viadya tweeted the image and mocked her, while other netizens wrote "Nidhi Razdan lecturing on journalism at Harvard University.
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FACT CHECK:
The claim that the image shows Nidhi Razdan teaching journalism at Harvard is false.
NewsMeter found that the viral picture is a screenshot taken from a YouTube video posted by the Kautilya School of Public Policy on October 31. According to the institute's YouTube channel, Nidhi, a visiting faculty of the Kautilya School of Public Policy was lecturing the students on the role of media in public policy. The description of the video read, "'Without a truly independent media, true democracy is unattainable.' Visiting faculty Nidhi Razdan, in conversation with our MPP students on the role of #media in #publicpolicy."
Nidhi has also mentioned her connection with the Kautilya School of Public Policy as a Visiting faculty in her Twitter bio.
https://kautilya.org.in/our-
Clearly, the viral picture of Nidhi teaching 'ethics in journalism' is not from Harvard but from a lecture at Kautilya School of Public Policy.
Moreover, Nidhi is not connected to Harvard in any manner. Earlier in June 2020, she announced that she is quitting NDTV and will work at Harvard University as an Associate Professor teaching journalism. However, in January this year, she announced that she was a victim of a phishing attack and that she never received an offer by Harvard University to join their faculty as Assistant Professor of Journalism. She stated that "the perpetrators of this attack used clever forgeries and misrepresentations to obtain access to my personal data and communications and may have also gained access to my devices and my email/social media accounts." Nidhi filed a complaint with the police and provided them with all the relevant documentary evidence to identify the perpetrators of this attack. She had also written to the Harvard University authorities and urged them to take the matter seriously.
Nidhi currently works as a Director of Strategic Programmes and Outreach at Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM) and she is also a visiting faculty at Kautilya School of Public Policy.
Clearly, the viral image could not be taken at Harvard University.
Thus, the claim is false.
