Tag: gutter journalism
Media outlets reporting false shark attack fail to follow up with the true story
by TheDorsalFin on Aug.01, 2009, under Shark Misrepresentation
It’s been over a week since an incident involving an 11-year-old girl being bitten by a bluefish was falsely reported as a shark attack by multiple media outlets. Within less than 24 hours after the “story” broke, an AFP release revealed that “maritime experts later concluded that the bite suffered by the girl was too small to have been caused by a shark and was compatible instead with the marks that would be left by a bluefish.”
False accusations against a blue shark persist.
While it’s not uncommon for details of breaking news to be sketchy, if not entirely inaccurate, most media outlets tend to follow-up on a story when it turns out the story has been falsely or incorrectly reported. However, that doesn’t appear to be the case with the following publications:
- The Daily Mail – British holidaymakers warned to stay away from Spanish beaches after shark attack on schoolgirl
- The Leader – BATHERS URGED TO REMAIN VIGILANT AROUND TARRAGONA BEACHES
- The Daily Star – COSTA GIRL IS SAVAGED BY SHARK
