A doctored screenshot of a Dawn story on the catastrophic floods in Pakistan has been making rounds on social media.

The original Dawn report with the headline 'Army called in as KP faces flood threat' was published in the newspaper on August 27 and appeared on Dawn.com the same day.

Screenshot of the original news report. — Dawn.com
Screenshot of the original news report. — Dawn.com

The doctored screenshot, however, features the following false headline: 'Flood in Pakistan is not due to Climate Change, but because people are not reading Quran.'. It has been shared multiple times on Twitter and Facebook, mostly by accounts identifying themselves as Indian users.

The image is cropped to show only the doctored and false headline and the picture collage from the original story. It features elements of the story's web version, including the Dawn logo at the top, as well as the original bylines.

However, the font of the false headline is starkly different from what appears on Dawn.com. The doctored screenshot's headline also does not adhere to the Dawn style guide in the following ways:

  • the headline ends with a full stop
  • it uses uppercase Cs for the words climate and change
  • the false headline reads like a statement without being attributed to a personality

The original story talks about Pakistan Army being deployed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after floods wreaked havoc in the province last week. The fabricated headline shown in the doctored screenshot neither appears in the actual story nor anywhere else on the website.

Separately, Fact Crescendo, an India-based website, in a report published today, also ran an independent fact check and confirmed that the screenshot circulating online was "altered".

"The image has been altered and is being distributed with a false claim," it concluded.

Opinion

Editorial

Hasty transition
Updated 05 May, 2024

Hasty transition

Ostensibly, the aim is to exert greater control over social media and to gain more power to crack down on activists, dissidents and journalists.
One small step…
05 May, 2024

One small step…

THERE is some good news for the nation from the heavens above. On Friday, Pakistan managed to dispatch a lunar...
Not out of the woods
05 May, 2024

Not out of the woods

PAKISTAN’S economic vitals might be showing some signs of improvement, but the country is not yet out of danger....
Rigging claims
Updated 04 May, 2024

Rigging claims

The PTI’s allegations are not new; most elections in Pakistan have been controversial, and it is almost a given that results will be challenged by the losing side.
Gaza’s wasteland
04 May, 2024

Gaza’s wasteland

SINCE the start of hostilities on Oct 7, Israel has put in ceaseless efforts to depopulate Gaza, and make the Strip...
Housing scams
04 May, 2024

Housing scams

THE story of illegal housing schemes in Punjab is the story of greed, corruption and plunder. Major players in these...