Claim: A graph shared in a viral tweet shows the rate of inflation in Pakistan along with the level of media outcry about inflation under the PTI government vs the PDM government. It claims that the media disproportionately created an outcry about inflation under the PTI government, as compared to the growing inflation under PDM in 2022.
Fact: The bars for media outcry have been placed arbitrarily, without quantifying media content. It is based on an assumption that the Pakistani media is biased against the PTI government.
Fact or Fiction?
On 3 September 2022, Twitter user Asher Bajwa shared a tweet with the following graph and caption, “Pakistani media talking about inflation vs Actual Inflation in Pakistan # [Imported government is unacceptable]”.
Multiple variable bar graph shared by Twitter user showing media outcry on inflation during PTI vs PDM government.
In a reply to the original tweet he wrote, “Note: this is sarcastic post but if actual data is collected for talk shows talking about inflation during this time, it will probably co-relate with this graph …. !!!“ Thus, the graph is based on opinion, not fact.
The key, title, “Pakistani Media Cry on Inflation” and yellow bars representing “media cry on inflation” are edited on to the original inflation graph created by Trading Economics. The data used by Trading Economics is taken from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
Graph from Tradingeconomics.com showing inflation rates in Pakistan from September 2021-August 2022.
The bars for media outcry have been arbitrarily constructed, as the Twitter user states. While he added that the graph is not based on collected data and claimed that it is “sarcastic”, it has been read and shared as real news by other Twitter users. While some users pointed out that the original tweet should have mentioned the data is made up, others have shared the graph as real news.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the 7-day period since 3 September to 9 September 2022 using the following search term:
- Pakistan inflation vs media
The search turned up 12 posts with 165 interactions. It was shared on Facebook here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here.
The original tweet received 3,697 likes, 2,212 retweets and 80 quote tweets. It was also shared on Twitter here here here here and here.
Conclusion: The graph showing disproportionate media outcry regarding inflation during the PTI vs the PDM government is not based on data and facts.