Print
The internet has greatly accelerated the pace at which news is broken and consumed. The competition is so fierce that a media outlet, howsoever big, is only as good as the last big news it broke. While there was probably never a better time for consuming news, the competition does have its downsides. For instance, media outlets can leave themselves open to sophomoric bloopers in their unrelenting quest for the next big story.
It is something that the DailyMail, Britain's second biggest newspaper, is now well aware of. Yesterday, its website featured a news story titled “Apple Boss Steve Jobs Reveals iPhone 4 May be Recalled.” The article claimed that the iPhone 4 may be recalled owing to many technical issues associated with it. However, the DailyMail had to recall the article instead, after it became clear that it was inspired by a parody Twitter account (ceoSteveJobs).
“We may have to recall the new iPhone. This, I did not expect,” the fake Steve Jobs tweeted on Saturday. To make it an even bigger embarassement for the DailyMail, the impersonator's bio clearly states that it is “a parody account.”
Image Credit: TheNextWeb and DailyMail
Comments are closed on this article
johnm1971
June 28, 2010 at 6:05pm
Amen, haboh! I've never understood the supposed "credibility" of Wikipedia, either!
haboh
June 28, 2010 at 9:36am
aah, the slow death of reliable reporting.
Can someone tell me again why using Twitter as a news and information source is supposed to be the next big thing? I never got that, since it overlooks the proven fact that 90% of people are idiots.
timmyw
June 28, 2010 at 4:45pm
More concerning has been the complete loss of fact checkers in reporting and elsewhere. There used to be people employed to make sure that quotes were real and the reporters got their facts straight. The all got fired years ago. So, we have reporters at well respected papers making up stories and quotations as they need them.
Its amazing that a large daily wouldn't even bother contacting Apple to get the facts before rushing to publish absolute nonesense. They deserve to have pie on their face.
It is also a proven fact that 90% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
