Canadian TV news misreports ferry video
I read in Toronto's free Metro newspaper (which had grabbed the story from Canadian Press) about a misreported ferry mishap. I can't find the story online, but here is how the London Free Press covered the story.
The gist: a few Canadian networks aired a video sourced from YouTube.com of a ferry in treacherous seas, saying it was recorded in Canadian waters. It now appears the footage was actually shot in New Zealand.
I did a quick search and I believe this is the video in question.
As the Metro article said, it raises questions about how news agencies use internet sources for broadcast fare. Here are some other interesting points I noticed:
-The CP story (which may have been cut down to squeeze it into the Metro) did not mention any of the TV networks directly. It only said "A video clip falsely labelled as a ferry battling rough seas in the Cabot Strait has raised questions about how news organizations deal with online sources after it made its way onto TV news broadcasts across Canada."
-notice that the London Free Press directly mentions CTV, NTV and other CTV affiliates, as well as Halifax's Global station. The Free Press is owned by Sun Media Corporation, a rival news brand owned by Quebecor Media, which runs The Toronto Sun (and other Sun papers around the country) and Sun TV.
So does the Free Press mention its rival stations to discredit them, or are they merely filling in the holes left open by the brief CP article?
6 comments:
Good question. The kind of question I wish more people would ask more often and more publicly.
Look again and you'll see that the London Free Press article was, in fact, written by CP. The brief story you saw was likely cut down for size, and The London Free Press has the full story.
FYI, here is the complete CP article:
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/MediaNews/2007/02/01/3498865-cp.html
Good to know.
Wow, can't believe I missed that. I knew I was a little out of it yesterday. Thanks Anon.
Post a Comment