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BBC Hoaxed!

  • 04-12-2004 2:15pm
    #1
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,972 ✭✭✭✭


    Whoops! I guess it can happen to the best of us!
    BBC apologises for bogus Bhopal interview
    By James Burleigh

    04 December 2004

    The BBC was forced to issue an apology yesterday after being tricked into airing an interview with a fake chemical industry spokesman who said the US company which now owns Union Carbide accepted responsibility for India's Bhopal disaster.

    BBC World broadcast the comments twice by a man identified as Jude Finisterra, who claimed to be representing Dow Chemicals, but later admitted it had been the victim of "an elaborate deception". The hoaxer confessed he was part of a group called the Yes Men, online activists who specialise in creating web parodies of those they resent, including businesses and governments.

    The tricksters went after Dow two years ago over the Bhopal disaster, which happened 20 years ago yesterday. More than 3,500 people died after lethal gas escaped from a Bhopal chemical plant, which was owned by Union Carbide, now a Dow subsidiary. Dow said that it bore no responsibility for one of the world's worst industrial disasters. A Dow spokeswoman in Switzerland confirmed the BBC report was wrong and that the man was not a Dow employee. Other news organisations, including Reuters, reported Finisterra's comments to the BBC but issued corrections after the hoax was revealed.

    In a statement read out during a subsequent news bulletin, the BBC said: "We apologise to Dow and to anyone who watched the interview who may have been misled by it. Of course, the BBC is investigating how the deception happened."

    full story - http://news.independent.co.uk/media/story.jsp?story=589600

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ifs/hi/newsid_4060000/newsid_4065600/4065673.stm

    http://www.theyesmen.org/hijinks/hiresphotos/dow/breakingnews_002.jpg

    Mike.


Comments

  • #2
    chewy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,254 ✭✭✭chewy


    i only heard about this ,this year...

    a spot on, taking it to the man! :)


  • #3
    Robbo
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 10,581 Mod ✭✭✭✭Robbo


    I was watching the news on BBC World when they put this story on as breaking news. It seemed a bit strange at the time, the tone of the statement from the "spokesman" was way OTT for your standard corporate "apology".


  • #4
    Flukey
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,001 ✭✭✭✭Flukey


    Even the best can get caught. RTE carried the initial story on the day too. I don't know anything about these people who did it, but it was an unfortunate event to use for their hoax. If you remember it, Bhopal was a terrible event and many people died and suffered. While the target of the hoax may have been the company responsible, it was still an awful event to hijack for this purpose. They could have done something different to get at them.


  • #5
    chewy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,254 ✭✭✭chewy


    they weren't just hoaxing for hoaxing sake they were involved in the case for along time, and did it to highlight the companies negligence


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