Spreading False Information
/While the mass shootings seem to be happening much more frequently, so are the media mistakes when it comes to facts about the story.
I simple fake tweet that was picked up by an LA Times Reporter quickly made it's way through the media and onto Fox News.
Los Angeles Times reporter Rick Serrano sent out this tweet naming one of the San Bernadino shooters:
It appears that the police were not the one to release the name and that the Reporter got the information off of Twitter. The name was not correct and the information was a hoax.
But, once the LA Times Reporter sent out the tweet, it was retweeted over and over again. Other media outlets picked up on the wrong information, including Fox News.
Times Reporter Serrano then backed off his tweet about the suspect's name, but still never said where he got the information.
But, buy the time he backed off and say his tweet was wrong, other news organizations were stuck wiping the egg off their face for reporting the fake info.
You can only hope that they will learn from this, but you know they won't.
Stay tuned....
