New
#1831
About tabloids and their credibility, this "news" story is getting some attention today in my native Finland.
First, an article from yesterday in one of these "it's not important if it's true, the main thing is it's a good story" tabloids in UK: Oxfordshire farmer says Finnish minister crashed into him on bike | Oxford Mail
There's only one small problem with that story: the Finnish minister (secretary of state) in question was at that exact moment attending president Obama's prayer breakfast in White House, Washington DC in USA, as can be witnessed by not only president Obama, but also the several hundreds of other participants.A FARMER has claimed Finland’s minister for foreign affairs caused a motorbike crash that left him with devastating injuries while he was holidaying in Thailand.
Timothy John Hook, of Cote near Witney, was in Phuket in February 2016 when he was involved in the crash that caused blood poisoning and haematomas.
The 71-year-old claims that Timo Soini – who formerly served as Finland’s deputy Prime Minister – caused the accident and owes him nearly £80,000 in damages.
One Finnish news site called the "journalist" in question early today asking more information.
(From Nyt.fi | HS.fi, original Finnish text translated with Google Translate).Have you heard that Soini was at the time of the event in Washington DC?
"Yes, I heard about this information being reported in Finland. I'm going back to the Hook to ask, see whether he was still behind the allegations. "
Did you try to get in touch with Soini before the release of the story?
"I sent him an email at the same address that Hook had said he had sent a message."
Where did Hook get the impression that the person who came to him was Soini?
"He had received it from others. Apparently the police station had been told that it had been Soini. According to Hook, Soini had been seen at the hotel with many well-known people. Apparently, he was not very fluent in English. I do not think Hook has deliberately lied about this. It is possible that he was given a false identity from the collider. "
In this era of fake news and "it must be true, I saw it on Interwebs" thinking, this is a good example about how "the news" are often made. Not a hint of truth, main thing being it is a good story and helps selling ads.
Kari