Journalism standards, and I’m using the term “standards” very loosely, have pretty much disappeared in a lot of cases. Take today’s headline on the “worldnewsdailyreport” which proclaimed “japanese whaling crew eaten alive by killer whales 16-dead”

Now for those of you who don’t know about the World News Daily Report, this is how they describe themselves.

“World News Daily Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within worldnewsdailyreport.com are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental, except for all references to politicians and/or celebrities, in which case they are based on real people, but still based almost entirely in fiction.”

So basically, they are like “The Onion”, a satirical publication. That didn’t stop other “reputable” news organizations, like the “International Business Times” from putting up headlines like “Killer Whales Gobble Japanese Whaling Crew” even AOL in the UK put up a headline “Pod of Killer Whales apparently attacked whaling crew”. After I wrote to the editor of the International Business Times, they changed their story to say that it was a hoax. AOL in the UK followed suit, citing the correction in the “IBT”

This explains a lot about how the news business works. Someone comes out with a story and everyone else just picks it up, without checking any sources or facts. 

Then of course, stories like these also bring out some crazy responses like this.

“Pretty gruesome scene, my sincere condolences to loved ones for your loss. As tragic as this may be, hopefully the Japanese will see this as a sign that Gaia’s had enough of Japan’s cavalier, inhumane stance on whaling – “ENOUGH”!

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