Browsed by
Category: Pseudo/fiction news

Gatwick Airport drone may never have existed: British police

Gatwick Airport drone may never have existed: British police

British media went crazy this past week, and doxxed a falsely accused innocent couple of flying drones over Gatwick Airport. Piers Morgan and The Mail both called the innocent couple “morons”. Journalism stoops to new lows the same week as Der Spiegel admitted its four time Reporter of the Year recipient had made up perhaps all of his stories or major parts of his stories. It’s fictional news all the way down …

Der Spiegel star reporter and editor admits to having made up stories and facts

Der Spiegel star reporter and editor admits to having made up stories and facts

A “star” reporter and editor at Der Spiegel has admitted to fabricating his stories over a period of many years. He was the four time winner of Germany’s “Reporter of the Year” award and a two time winner of CNN’s Journalist of the Year. Yet the journalists who selected the winner never saw problems. Think of the role that such fake news plays in shaping public opinion, and its sharing on social media as part of propaganda campaigns.

The headline: “Over half of Americans delay or don’t get health care because they can’t afford it”

The headline: “Over half of Americans delay or don’t get health care because they can’t afford it”

The survey appears to have found that over half of Americans postpone preventative checkups when they are not experiencing any health problems which is different than avoiding seeking care for an active health care problem.

The distinction is that in many health care visits, a patient is experiencing something wrong and visits a provider to hopefully find a solution.

In a preventative check up, a patient goes to a provider and asks the provider to find something wrong with them.

Fake headline: “Someone just made a floating hovercraft Delorean”

Fake headline: “Someone just made a floating hovercraft Delorean”

Here’s the fake headline: Someone just made a floating hovercraft Delorean – Esquire Middle East.

Matt built his Delorean look-alike hovercraft between 2010 and 2012 which is hardly “just made”. He has, however, put it up for sale. We both have hovercraft and we both flew them at solar eclipse viewing events in Oregon in 2017.

Staged photos used to illustrate a “news” story

Staged photos used to illustrate a “news” story

The way to respond to accusations of fictional news reporting is to double down on accuracy, objectivity and remaining calm. Unfortunately, the news industry continues to harm itself through self destructive behavior typical of middle school drama. Here, an online magazine staged their photos to accompany an interview, down to providing the clothing worn by the subject being interviewed.