When French composer Maurice Jarre passed away on 28th March, sociology student Shane Fitzgerald took the opportunity to test “how our globalized, increasingly Internet-dependent media was upholding accuracy and accountability in an age of instant news”. He amended the composer’s Wikipedia page with a fake quote which was used by many newspapers and new blogs all over the world. No one called his bluff till he announced it a month later, showing that media outlets are often reliant on Internet sources to produce news stories quickly under pressure.
Read more about it here. A lesson for aspiring journalists to always double check their sources!
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