The article title has been restored in the evening and my bio, which was mischievously edited after publication, had already been fixed much earlier. However, I guess I owe everyone an explanation. #Thread https://twitter.com/AnandKochukudy/status/1380415068576174080

What happened exactly? Rajeev Devaraj, editor of @MediaOneTVLive, a channel where I was seen every week on news debates at 9, sent a slanderous mail to The Quint bosses with falsehoods and innuendos. I have no idea about his motivation, except possibly his loyalty to @CPIMKerala

For some reason, The Quint editors forgot to get in touch with me for clarifications on the matter and instead took @NikhilaHenry’s assistance. And instead of contacting me, she got in touch with @dhanyarajendran who LIED to her that I might have something to do with @INCIndia

When I confronted @dhanyarajendran, she said she assumed I had something to do with INC because “someone had told her something like that in the past” although she never thought it fit to clarify – despite my writing many articles including commissioned ones for @TheNewsMinute

So what did The Quint do? They simply did what @NikhilaHenry suggested – changed my bio as per her inputs (fed to her by @dhanyarajendran and possibly other Left journalists) and also altered the headline to not reflect the gist of the article – without clarifying with me

The change of headline & bio was brought to my notice only this noon when the @CPIMKerala cyber team began to circulate screenshots of the altered bio & title. That’s when I wrote to the editors & saw Devaraj’s mail. I sent a detailed point-by-point rebuttal with WA screenshots

The Quint editors accepted my rebuttal and reverted to the old title. A corrigendum of Devaraj saying “he couldn’t comment on the matter” was added to the piece. He was worried otherwise it would have meant him blaming the management. But I have the WA chats &call records with me

No idea what is @dhanyarajendran’s beef with me. She called me and said that she regretted sharing my article as she was getting messages from a lot of Left journalists for doing that. I can’t be sure if she got a call from John Brittas. I found out she had spoken with Devaraj

And I have no clue if it has anything to do with the fact that I have been talking to investors and seeking IMPSF funds to try and revive @TheKochiPost, a small-but-quality venture in which @sins_of_syntax and I had put in a lot of effort till it went bust - to try & discredit me

Anyway, one thing is clear. The Left-wing media ecosystem in Kerala has been stirred. A lot of journalists in Kerala are former SFI/DYFI activists-turned-journalists. Many TV journalists in Kerala, including Rajeev Devaraj, have had stints with @CPIMKerala mouthpiece Kairali News

Now just consider this: If this is the kind of reaction after the article is published post elections, what would have been the response if it was published earlier? I guess I chose the wrong platform and was a bit late with this expose but let that be

I guess many Kerala journos are okay with @CPIMKerala rigging the system through bogus voting and paid news to win. Many of them are hedging their bets assuming @pinarayivijayan is coming back. How are they different from the Noida media who act as accomplices for Narendra Modi?

I also assume many journalists and channel insiders in Kerala knew about all this before I came up with the article. I pity those folks who talk big about principles and policies while pulling fast ones on their viewers.

Lastly, I hope people will appreciate the fact that I have jeopardised my thriving TV career by writing this as it is very likely that at least Media One (Rajeev Devaraj says so in his mail) and Asianet News and some other channels might boycott me from news debates. I don’t care