Sunday 27 June 2010

Mail publishes article based on spoof tweet, thinks it's real

1. Someone sets up a spoof Twitter account for Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

2. They send some tweets.

3. A lazy Mail hack called Richard Ashmore sees one of the joke tweets.

4. He ignores the bit which says: 'Of course, this is a parody account'.

5. Thinking he's got a story, he writes an article based on said tweet.

6. The article gets published.

7. Twitter, people leaving comments on the Mail site and several bloggers (Media Blog, Phil Bradley, Angry Mob) point out Ashmore's error.

8. Mail removes article within a few hours.

9. Onlookers shake their heads, unsure whether to laugh at the incompetence, or cry at the quality of journalism at the Mail.

4 comments:

  1. Journalism? Hah !

    Sure, they removed it from the Dsily Mail site, but currently, it's still on their This Is Money site.

    http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargains-and-rip-offs/broadband-and-phones/article.html?in_article_id=507204&in_page_id=182

    Quality stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  2. it's just absurd isn't it?

    whatever happened to fact checking? all he would have needed to do was log on to the apple website, or any of the blogs refuting the recall.

    is this the precursor to an outraged article in the DM about the evils of twitter i wonder?

    ReplyDelete
  3. A bit harsh this article to be honest.

    You're saying the journalist would have to take out about three minutes to check some facts or require some basic knowledge on the subject being commented on?

    You're living in a dream world there I'm afraid.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Still available here for those who missed it: http://news1.capitalbay.com/news/apple_iphone_4_the_much-vaunted.html

    Nice to see the Mail getting ridiculed around the web now!

    ReplyDelete

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