arniejolt
03-15-2010, 10:29 AM
Meh, Orson Wells did it first...
A TV station in the former Soviet republic of Georgia caused a panic this weekend by running a fake story that the Russian army had invaded and had killed President Mikhail Saakhasvili.
Imedi, a private TV station, ran footage -- including Russian tanks rolling through the countryside -- from the brief but bloody clashes between the two countries in 2008, The Associated Press reports.
Cell phone service was knocked out briefly as anxious Georgians began phoning each other, the AP says.
The TV station later said that it ran the phony report to show Georgians what could happened if they did not stand united against Russia.
The Messenger, an English-language online news outlet, says the anchor of the program Special Report initially warned viewers that the invasion report was a fake, but there was no other indication that events were not actually taking place.
The Georgian Times reports that the national regulatory commission is weighing sanctions against the station.
Saakhasvili criticized the station for failing to inform viewers adequately that the story was fake, but added that it was "maximally accurate" as to possible events under the "plans of Georgia's enemy."
From USA Today:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/03/georgians-panicked-by-tv-stations-phony-story-of-russian-invasion/1
A TV station in the former Soviet republic of Georgia caused a panic this weekend by running a fake story that the Russian army had invaded and had killed President Mikhail Saakhasvili.
Imedi, a private TV station, ran footage -- including Russian tanks rolling through the countryside -- from the brief but bloody clashes between the two countries in 2008, The Associated Press reports.
Cell phone service was knocked out briefly as anxious Georgians began phoning each other, the AP says.
The TV station later said that it ran the phony report to show Georgians what could happened if they did not stand united against Russia.
The Messenger, an English-language online news outlet, says the anchor of the program Special Report initially warned viewers that the invasion report was a fake, but there was no other indication that events were not actually taking place.
The Georgian Times reports that the national regulatory commission is weighing sanctions against the station.
Saakhasvili criticized the station for failing to inform viewers adequately that the story was fake, but added that it was "maximally accurate" as to possible events under the "plans of Georgia's enemy."
From USA Today:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/03/georgians-panicked-by-tv-stations-phony-story-of-russian-invasion/1
