Rahul Roushan (born 29 January 1980) is an Indian blogger and businessman. Roushan founded ''

Faking News Faking News, originally started as a form of blog, was an Indian news satire website that published fake news reports containing satire on politics and society of India.

'', a satirical news website, and is the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

OpIndia OpIndia is an Indian right-wing news website that frequently publishes misinformation. Founded in December 2014, the website has published fake news and Islamophobic commentary on multiple occasions, including a 2020 incident in which it false ...

, a

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

news portal that has published

fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...

. Originally from

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

, he is now based in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

and is an alumnus of

Indian Institute of Mass Communication Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) is an Indian media centre of learning and civil service training institute for the Indian Information Service Cadre funded and promoted by the Government of India in New Delhi. The IIMC is an auto ...

and IIM-A. He served as the editor of ''Faking News'' until 2016 and previously also worked as

chief strategy officer A chief strategy officer (CSO) is an executive that usually reports to the CEO and has primary responsibility for strategy formulation and management, including developing the corporate vision and strategy, overseeing strategic planning, and leading ...

for '' Swarajya'', a conservative Indian magazine. In March 2020, he published his autobiography titled "Sanghi Who Never Went To A Shakha." The book received positive reception from many including

Kangana Ranaut Kangna Amardeep Ranaut (; born 23 March 1987) is an Indian actress and filmmaker who works in Hindi films. Known for her work in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards and five Filmfar ...

, Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri and Madhav Sharma.

Life

Roushan comes from the city of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

. He graduated in Mathematics from

Patna University Patna University is a public state university in Patna, Bihar, India. It was established on 1 October 1917 during the British Raj. It is the first university in Bihar and the seventh oldest university in the Indian subcontinent in the modern er ...

in year 2001, and then received a postgraduate diploma in broadcast journalism from the

(IIMC) in New Delhi in 2002. Roushan is also an alumnus of

IIM Ahmedabad Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad) is the world's number 1 business school, located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The school has been accorded the status of an Institute of National Importance by Ministry of Human Resource ...

with a Post Graduate Diploma in Management granted in 2007. Roushan is settled in Mumbai, where he lives with his wife, with who he has a daughter.

Career

After graduating from IIMC, Roushan worked as a copy editor, bulletin producer, and news anchor with the Hindi news channel

Sahara Samay Sahara India Pariwar (''pariwar'' being Hindi for "family") is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. The group operates business sectors such as finance, infrastructure & housing, real estate, sports, power, ma ...

for two and a half years. He left journalism to pursue higher studies at IIM Ahmedabad, wherein he turned an entrepreneur. While still being a student, he had launched ''crickstock.com'', a virtual gaming website, ahead of the

2007 Cricket World Cup The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the ...

. Crickstock.com was later sold off to a US based online gaming company and Roushan chose a freelancing career as management consultant; one of his projects included helping the Bihar government set up a management institute in Patna, in 2008. In 2008, inspired by the American news satire website ''

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on August 2 ...

'', Roushan started ''

Faking News Faking News, originally started as a form of blog, was an Indian news satire website that published fake news reports containing satire on politics and society of India.

'' as a blog and wrote under the pseudonym ''Pagal Patrakaar'' (crazy journalist). In 2009, the blog was turned into a full-fledged website. In 2013, ''Faking News'' was acquired by

Firstpost ''Firstpost'' is an Indian online news and media website. The site is a part of the Network 18 media conglomerate owned by Reliance Industries, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18. The ''Network 18'' group was originally owned by Raghav ...

, a news portal of the

Network 18 Network18 Media & Investments Limited, (formerly SGA Finance and Management Service and Network18 Fincap Limited) commonly referred to as the Network18 Group and sometimes as the Network18–Eenadu Group, is an Indian media conglomerate owned b ...

group, for an undisclosed amount. Roushan went on to serve as its editor till September 2016, when he switched to '' Swarajya'' as Chief Strategy Officer. In November 2018, he became the CEO of a spin-off digital media startup – Aadhyaasi Media & Content Services, which took over the production of

from ''Swarajya''. Ideologically oriented towards right-wing populism, OpIndia claims to be a fact-checking website, but has published

on multiple occasions. In May 2019, the

International Fact-Checking Network The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a non-profit journalism school and research organization in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school is the owner of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' newspaper and the International Fact-Checking Netwo ...

(IFCN), an affiliate of the

Poynter Institute The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a non-profit journalism school and research organization in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school is the owner of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' newspaper and the International Fact-Checking Netwo ...

, rejected Roushan's application to have OpIndia certified as a fact checker.

Influence

Priyanka Sharma wrote in the ''

Business Standard ''Business Standard'' is an Indian English-language daily edition newspaper published by Business Standard Private Limited, also available in Hindi. Founded in 1975, the newspaper covers the Indian economy, infrastructure, international busine ...

'' that several authors followed Roushan's lead to start similar ventures as ''Faking News'', including the founders of ''newsthatmattersnot.com'' and

The UnReal Times "The UnReal Times" was an Indian satire, spoof, parody and humour portal featuring satirical articles on politics, entertainment, cricket, media, international affairs and society. Founded in 2011, the portal publishes fake news reports, comic str ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roushan, Rahul 21st-century Indian journalists Hindi journalists Indian satirists 21st-century Indian businesspeople 1980 births Living people