Montreal newspaper La Presse was hoaxed by a fake Twitter account for actor Bill Murray.
In a June 23 post, La Presse quoted from the alleged account in its “quote of the week section.” But the real Murray doesn’t have a Twitter account.
The tweet La Presse cited was posted on June 17 on a Twitter account named BiIIMurray. It read:
“You think you’re having a bad day? Remember this: In 1976 Ronald Wayne sold his 10% stock in Apple for $800. Now its worth $60 Billion.”
But, the account is clearly labeled phony. The bio section reads:
“I AM NOT BILL MURRAY. This is a parody account. Not in any way affiliated with the actor Bill Murray”
iMediaEthics wrote to La Presse seeking a transparent correction but never received a response. As of June 30, the quote has been deleted from the article in question but no disclosure of error was made.
Hat Tip: Steve Faguy