Students: if you want to see what happens when the blogs editor of a national UK newspaper gets caught out passing off an ancient online hoax as a legitimate source, run a quick search for @holysmoke on Twitter now.
It is hard to credit that any professional journalist would see this and assume that it were genuine, let alone suitable substance with which to vent intra-media point-scoring over so sensitive a topic as the Jimmy Savile child abuse allegations.
The blog post has had all the offending elements removed, all comments have been removed, and commenting is no longer available. There is no sign on this blog of anything having gone awry – and the publisher would rather censor its audience than acknowledge culpability. This is sharp practice in itself - and who is the Telegraph’s ombudsman, to whom the public may enquire, should they have read this before it were deleted, and been hoodwinked? Answers on a postcard…
The moral of the story: if you must chase page-views in order to show the world how indignant you are, you’d best check your facts first. Otherwise it may appear that you are doing more harm to the cause of those seeking justice, than good.
Update 14:01: and so the parodies begin…
Post: MD
