Fake Videos

StinkyJournalism wrote earlier this week about ABC News’ manipulated video supposedly showing a test of unplanned acceleration in a Toyota vehicle. Commenters pointed out that video from the alleged live-action "road test" included footage from a parked car test without disclosure.

Bottom line: ABC News tried to pass off as real, a video that wasn't an actual test but an unlabeled news "dramatization."  Gawker confirmed this...Go to full story

Just as in print stories, images and videos that are broadcast on television are subject to editing. And, just as manipulating a quote in a print story to make it appear more exciting can deceive readers, televised images, audio or video that are edited to stage a better story can mislead viewers. Gawker reports commenters at "YouTube and various message boards" caught ABC News fabricating a fake "real live- action demonstration" video last...Go to full story

If StinkyJournalism’s most popular stories of the year, or Craig Silverman’s best of the worst list of media corrections weren’t enough for you, Michael Calderone, of Politico.com has also issued a list of the years worst media blunders. A few stories we covered here at StinkyJournalism made the list, like

Apparently, October is National Hoax Month -- or so it would seem, given the proliferation of fraudulent stories that appeared over the past couple weeks. It all began with a boy not in a balloon... By now, you've almost certainly heard of Falcon Heene, the 6-year-old boy from Fort Collins, Colorado who, for a brief period of time, was thought to be trapped inside his father's homemade weather balloon. News crews flocked to capture the scene and helicopters from the Colorado...Go to full story

While news about Neda Agha Soltan's tragic death on the streets of Iran evoke global shock and sadness, questions also arise about the authenticity of the video. UK's Sky News posts a second video that seems to support the authenticity of the original video circulating the Internet. The video footage shows a woman and a man, with the same clothing and physical appearance as Neda and her music teacher.  Sky News writes: "Neda Agha Soltan's death was captured on...Go to full story

Stinky Journalism's Danielle Mastropiero is a career EMT as well as a former American Heart Association CPR Instructor.

The claim captured in the title and caption of the video is dramatic: "Cameraman watches brother die: CNN's Michael Holmes reports on the Gaza cameraman who recorded the death of his own brother." When bloggers first raised doubts and suggested the scene was staged, the video was quickly removed by CNN but soon reemerged with the...Go to full story

The Huffington Post has admitted they were fooled by a fake video. Huff Post editors wrote on Feb 19, 2009: "UPDATE: The Huffington Post has learned that the below video has been doctored. We regret the error and apologize to Mr. Gibson. John Gibson never compared Eric Holder to a monkey with a bright blue scrotum. The Huffington Post regrets the error. -- Alex Leo and Danny Shea. " Good to know. The IUSB Vision Weblog was first to chronicle this debacle. The...Go to full story

A France 2 report showed old footage - from 2005, of the dead bodies of children killed by the accidental explosion of a truck carrying Hamas rockets- and tried to pass it off in January 2008 as recent footage illustrating the violence of the Israelis in Gaza, according to French blog, Le Post.

Etienne Leonhardt, France 2's joint director responsible for investigative reports, immediately fell on the sword and said the network would apologize....Go to full story

"I'll never let go. I promise. I'll never let go." Recognize these lines? If you were around in the late 90s, you probably know they come from the blockbuster hit Titanic, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. The movie is about the fateful voyage of the Titanic. It is not about a Russian exploration of the Arctic Ocean. So why, You Tube user Densloe asks, did scenes from the film appear on the Russian Today’s August 2007 report on a Russian expedition...Go to full story

"One person who certainly didn't know about the CGI mix-in was M. Philip Butler, a vice president at Fireworks by Grucci who calls himself "Chief Operating Brother-in-Law" of the company. (His wife, Donna Grucci, is its president.) Fireworks by Grucci is one of the country's pre-eminent fireworks innovators; the company was hired by the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee to help engineer the presentation.

"Butler says that he was... Go to full story