Biscuit Coma Story: Globe & Mail, Sun, Daily Mail, Examiner Also Hoaxed

iMediaEthics publishes international media ethics news stories and investigations into journalism ethics lapses.

Menu

Home » Media Business Ethics News»

Media outlets were hoaxed by this satire story from RockCitytimes (credit: RockCitytimes, screenshot, highlight added)

Satire site RockCitytimes published a phony story claiming that food writer Kevin Shalin lapsed into a coma because he ate 413 biscuits.  The UK Daily Mirror not only was hoaxed by the satire site, but wrote about the alleged coma without any attribution or credit for photos, information or quotes.

But, the Mirror wasn’t alone in ending up with egg, and a bit of flour, on its face.

Since iMediaEthics’ earlier report on the Mirror’s credibility pratfall, we’ve discovered several other outlets including the Sun, the Daily Mail, the Globe and Mail, the Examiner and gossip blogger Perez Hilton were tricked by the satire story.

The Globe and Mail was in a ‘Rush to Post’

The Globe and Mail’s website published a June 24 story about the biscuits coma story. That story was later updated to reflect that the story is a hoax and to add an Editor’s Note at the bottom of the post to admit the Globe and Mail was duped.  The Editor’s Note read:

“Editor’s Note: This story has been updated from an earlier version to reveal that it is a hoax.”

The Globe and Mail’s public editor Sylvia Stead offered the back story on what happened in a blog post about the error. Noting that the blog is supposed to be “fun, water cooler chatter,” Stead reminded that the blog “also needs to be checked and reported.”

According to Stead’s post, the Globe and Mail’s blogger had tried to verify the story by contacting the RockCitytimes but “filed the post before hearing” back. Once, the blogger did, ” the story was briefly pulled, then rewritten and reposted to show that it was a joke,” Stead wrote.

The Globe did the right thing by both correcting the article and acknowledging an error was made,” according to Stead. “Nonetheless, there needed to be greater vigilance, especially when it sounded pretty far-fetched.”

But, Stead said the error was made because of a “rush to post without proper reporting.”

 

The Examiner doesn’t attribute info

The Examiner fell for the hoax with a June 24 story about Shalin’s alleged coma.  In an “update” later on, the Examiner admitted that the story was a hoax.  The Examiner’s writer explained:

“I had first heard the story on ‘Morons in the News,’ a segment on a radio show I listen to. I researched the article and found the story on many news sites.

“The friend of Shalin’s who wrote the original article and Shalin himself called the article ‘satire.’ I call it a hoax. The word ‘satire’ doesn’t fit this lie at all.”

Outside of being hoaxed, the Examiner’s story very closely resembles the RockCitytimes‘ version.  The Examiner didn’t attribute any information or quotes, and the RockCitytimes‘ story is simply re-written.

iMediaEthics has written to the Examiner asking what its standards are for attribution and will update with any information.

 

Daily Mail, Sun and Scottish Sun Hoaxed, Delete Stories

The Daily Mail deleted its story, “Food fan left in a coma after eating 413 biscuits that gave him a ‘butter overdose’ and made his brain seize.”  The story’s link now goes to a page saying the page “does not exist or is no longer available.”

The Sun and Scottish Sun published a story, “Man’s coma after biscuit at record bid,” but both have been deleted. Those story links re-direct to the sites’ homepages or error pages.

Perez Hilton picked up the story too, but as of June 27 hasn’t acknowledged the story is a hoax.

iMediaEthics has written to the Sun, the Daily Mail and the Examiner seeking transparent corrections. We’ll update with any responses.

UPDATE: 7/2/2013 8:40 PM EST: MailOnline Managing Editor Rhiannon Macdonald told iMediaEthics by email more about this story:

“This story was supplied to MailOnline by a reputable freelance correspondent and published in good faith, in common with at least one other British national newspaper.

“It was ‘live’ for about half an hour before it was brought to our attention that there were factual inaccuracies at which point we removed it from the website.”

Submit a tip / Report a problem

Biscuit Coma Story: Globe & Mail, Sun, Daily Mail, Examiner Also Hoaxed

Share this article:

คาสิโน
สล็อต
sa gaming
tkb365
https://tkb399.com/login
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
ทำความรู้จักกับ
PG
สล็อต
tkb138
sa gaming
https://www.hotelplayagolf.com/es/instalaciones/piscinas
tkb365
บาคาร่า
สล็อตเว็บตรง
บาคาร่า
ทดลองเล่นสล็อตฟรี
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต pg
สล็อตเว็บตรง
สล็อตเว็บตรง
tkb138
ซุปเปอร์สล็อต
tkb138
tkb365
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
changbet789
สูตรสล็อต pg ทดลองเล่นฟรี
สล็อต ดาวน์โหลด รับเครดิตฟรี
สล็อต
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
tkb138
https://www.hotelalbora.com/
https://tkb108.co/register
tkb696
สล็อตเว็บตรง
changbet789
สล็อตทดลอง
pg
betflix
pg slot
สล็อต
pg slot
สล็อตเว็บจริง100%
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
sbobet
ดลองเล่นสล็อต pg
tkb138
https://titanium-hotel.com/
สล็อต
tkb138
taokaebet
tkb777
อันดับแรก
คาสิโน
changbet789
แจกเครดิตฟรี 100%
ทดลองเล่นสล็อตทุกค่ายฟรี
สล็อต
changbet789
tkb365
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
changbet789
finfinbet
คาสิโน
changbet789
tkb108
tkbneko
สล็อตเว็บตรง
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
https://www.gday96.com/
สล็อต888
สล็อต
PG
บาคาร่าเว็บตรง
changbet789
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต pg
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
ทดลองเล่นสล็อตฟรี
tkb365
tkb365
tkb365
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkbking
tkbking
tkbking
tkbking
tkbking
tkbking
thb889
thb889
thb889
thb889
thb889
thb889
thb889
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
TKB96
tkb96
tkb96
tkb96
tkb96
tkb96
tkb96
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
tkbsexy
tkbrich
tkbpussy
tkbpg
tkbfun
tkb96
tkb33
tkb9
tkb4
thb889
tkbking
tkb555
tkb365
changbet789
บาคาร่า
คาสิโนออนไลน์
sa gaming
คาสิโนออนไลน์สด
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต pg ซื้อฟรีสปิน
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
บาคาร่า
สล็อต เว็บตรงไม่ผ่านเอเย่นต์ไม่มีขั้นต่ำ
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
สล็อต