Fake news report of Russian invasion causes panic in Georgia
March 16th, 2010Posted by Judith Townend in Broadcasting, Editors' pick
English language TV station Russia Today reports:
A Georgian TV channel has caused nationwide panic with a fake news bulletin claiming Russian troops were on their way to the capital, Tbilisi – and that President Mikheil Saakashvili had been killed. Many viewers missed a short warning that the thirty-minute report was a mock-up, and rushed out onto the streets.
Hat-tip: Daniel Bennett on the Frontline Blog.
March 16th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
This feature is a good example of what I call a biased multi coursing. While the hoax on the national TV station was certainly a blunder, Georgians were scared because they do afraid of Russia. After all Russia did interfere once and took part of their land and it does support two broken part of Georgia. Who gave Russia authority to decide which region of Georgia should be sovereign?