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Dawn’s fake news of Boris Johnson’s death sums up standards of Journalism

Raza Dotani
Raza Dotani  - Founder / Editor Apr 8, 2020 3 Min Read
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Pakistan’s credible channel Dawn News killed off UK prime minister Boris Johnson while quoting a fake BBC Twitter account.

A fake twitter account ‘BBC Breaking News’ with the handle @bbcbreaki was found to have tweeted that the prime minister has died of the novel Coronavirus. Dawn news rushed to report it.

Dawn News Rushed to Air a Fake News and killed off UM PM

Here is how #DawnNews rushed to air a fake news of UK PM #BorisJohnson.

Posted by Aware Pakistan on Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Not only Dawn News but a Pakistani journalist Omer Quraishi had also tweeted ‘Boris Johnson’s Death,’ but soon after he understood the ‘fake news’, he deleted his tweet.

Omer Quraishi Tweet

Twitter suspended the ‘fake account’ which had the BBC logo and a few hundred followers. The tweet was retweeted by over 500 users before it was being taken down.

Not only Pakistani journalists and channels but the fake tweet was also retweeted hundreds of times before being deleted, including by verified journalists in Canada and Australia, according to a Face checking organization Full Fact.

It was really a ‘grave misreporting’ by Dawn News which is considered one of the most credible and authentic news sources in Pakistan. This time the channel showed a huge lack of non-professionalism and irresponsibility.

Dawn News, unfortunately, has summed up the standards of journalism particularly electronic media in Pakistan, who are always rushing to report news without checking proper tools and facts.

Even a common person, could recognize a fake profile over social media which fakes a big news source like BBC. Nevertheless, the people at Dawn News were careless to check the authenticity of a ‘fake tweet’.

Social Media users called out Dawn News for the grave fake reporting and punning news.

Like many other countries, one of the most dangerous traditions followed by Pakistani media is to ‘misreport’ for the sake of rating. Here is why a user felt her head bowed in shame.

Dawn's fake news of Boris Johnson's death sums up standards of Journalism 1

Journalist Wajahat Kazmi who is also a former reporter of Dawn News called it ‘some next level shit’.

Dawn News TV aired a breaking news today that British Prime Minister #BorisJohnson passed away due to #Covid_19. They even quoted a fake BBC World account from Twitter which had hardly a few hundred followers. Smoking some next level shit. pic.twitter.com/J0BopcINB7

— Wajahat Kazmi (@KazmiWajahat) April 7, 2020

Another user blamed DAWN for imitating other channels, allegedly under Army’s control.

Dawn News TV, #Pakistan, airs a breaking news of British PM #BorisJohnson death due to #Covid_19, even quoting a fake BBC World account from Twitter.🤦‍♀️

Things that are bound to happen when the media is totally controlled by a stupid Army🤣@arifaajakiapic.twitter.com/Wh618LlYC5

— Sajeda Akhtar (@Sajeda_Akhtar) April 7, 2020

A user suggested to rename Dawn as Damn and also grabbed ARY news channel something else.

First ARY news channel stated the word "Merci" as "Rehem" which had been displayed across Eiffel Tower without verification.
Now Dawn News channel!! 🤦🏻‍♀️ Dawn should be renamed as Damn if it publishes fake news without verifying! https://t.co/UtlBQY4AUG

— Suraksha Dodai (@IamSuraksha) April 7, 2020

Journalist Omer Qureshi also criticised Dawn News for misreporting while distancing himself from his earlier deleted tweet.

A fake Twitter account with a BBC logo and less than a thousand followers tweeted the fake news of the UK PM Boris Johnson had died – it has over 600 retweets after being taken down – and Pakistan TV channel Dawn News ran it in its tickers pic.twitter.com/kvbealupvc

— omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) April 7, 2020

The prime minister Boris Johnson was admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital in central London with “persistent symptoms” of Covid-19 on Sunday and was moved to intensive care on Monday evening after his symptoms worsened.

He tweeted about his health and said that he had done for the routine tests while still experiencing the symptoms of COVID-19.

I’d like to say thank you to all the brilliant NHS staff taking care of me and others in this difficult time. You are the best of Britain.

Stay safe everyone, and please remember to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives.

— Boris Johnson #StayHomeSaveLives (@BorisJohnson) April 6, 2020

Social media platforms are fighting against fake news and misinformation regarding the Coronavirus outbreak across the world. Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and other platforms have been taking down pages and profiles spreading fake news.

TAGGED: Coronavirus, Fake News, Journalism, Media, Social Media

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By Raza Dotani Founder / Editor
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IVLP fellow, an independent blogger, digital media freelancer and trainer, advocates for civic voices and digital literacy, empowers youth, and helps people thrive online.
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