The Video that Duped the News World

I
t was fixed just half an hour later, but one still finds it remarkable that no news outlet, however reputable, was free of the deception of a video whose footage was taken over a year ago. If you check the original article, you'll find it no longer exists, because the Telegraph already deleted it. The article was a posting of this video, claiming it was taken during the search for flight MH370 in the Indian Ocean:


It's a harrowing piece of footage, to be sure, but in its haste to share it, the Telegraph neglected to look at its title: "LPG/C Venere, Hurricane, 19/jan/2013". How vague. Perhaps they could have taken a second step to confirm its veracity, by looking at when it was published: "Jan 28, 2013". Instead, this video was miscast, first by one source (intentionally or otherwise), and then by dozens of other penguins looking to jump in:


It's a shame that such blind reporting can occur, but in the unfortunate pursuit of drama, it's not a surprise. We are lucky this one outlet corrected its error.

In terms of the footage, itself, I have to say it's remarkable. It probably scares quite a few people, particularly those who are, ahem, afraid of the ocean, but I don't share that fear. Rather, I'm drawn to the danger of it, because I am the ever-curious cat on the ever-thinning branch. Nevertheless, I can only respect the men and women who travel on those waves (and just for oil, no less). The power of the Earth's oceans is awesome, and it doesn't need any invented drama to make it so.

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