One of the first things we’re taught as journalists is to always check your sources. And in the new age of social media, this is more important than ever, as one BBC journalist has found out in a rather amusing way…
As Donald Trump’s former presidential campaign manager, Paul Manafort, prepared to hand himself in to the FBI, the BBC ran an article on Trump’s response.
Predictably, the US President was throwing a mini tantrum, tweeting that the investigation was “phony” and a “Witch Hunt”, as well as attacking his former rival, Hillary Clinton.
The article then shifted to critics of Trump’s response, and featured this tweet:
She's not the President, you are….Nice try at distracting from indictments coming on Monday. He who doth protest too much…
— TitanMen (@TitanMen) October 29, 2017
The tweet seems perfectly innocent, doesn’t it? Well, it is until you realise that TitanMen is a gay porn site, with a Twitter bio reading: “NSFW! 18+ for Adults only! Producers of the best gay adult entertainment on the planet!” Whoops!
The mistake didn’t go unnoticed with various Twitter users finding hilarity in the situation. Sadly, the BBC later realised, and replaced the tweet with a different critic of the President.
With the BBC article titled “Trump rages on Twitter at Clinton and Russia inquiry ‘witch hunt'”, we’re sure the BBC wanted to get people hot under the collar, just not in this way.
Related: BBC removes tweets requesting votes on if gay conversion therapy should be illegal
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