Fake News: Channel 4 names wrong man as Westminster Bridge terror attacker
No sooner had a lunatic murdered a policeman and two others in Westminster, London, before being shot dead by police, than the mainstream media raced to see which of them could be first to name the alleged killer.
Channel 4 news was fast from the traps. Abu Izzadeen, also known as Trevor Brooks, was allegedly named as the person responsible by Channel 4. But his lawyer says he is in prison. There’s no way it was him. Whoops!
No sooner had one news source delivered the ‘facts’ than others rehashed Channel 4’s report and without bothering to check its veracity beamed it to their audiences. The media went full Trump!
The Indy dived in, allegedly mistakenly naming the alleged killer:
Unilad spread the wrong news:
Lots more publishers joined in.
MaCleans in Canada even added a bit about the police “confirming” the alleged killer’s alleged identity. We’ve not seen police do anything of the sort.
On Twitter, voices called for circumspection, respect for the victims and to wait for the police to tell us more.
And then Channel 4 began to sweat:
No need for facts. No need for fact-checking. Has Channel 4 been hacked by the Russians? Is Sean Spicer, the White House spokesman, moonlighting as editor? Is Channel 4 discredited, indecent and dire?
Maybe.
Posted: 22nd, March 2017 | In: Reviews Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
