Fuel price hike: Geo, Dawn News fall prey to parody social media account
An embarrassing moment for two of the leading media houses, Geo News and Dawn News, as they fell prey to a parody social media account.
An embarrassing moment for two of the leading media houses, Geo News and Dawn News, as they fell prey to a parody social media account of the spokesperson to the Finance Minister Muzzammil Aslam which defended the fuel price hike.
After the federal government announced to hike prices of petroleum products, netizens flocked to social media to condemn the move by sharing their thoughts and with different memes.
The two leading media houses in Pakistan have also fallen prey to a parody social media account on Twitter (@chickenomist) which tweeted, “Despite PKR12/liter increase in the petrol price, I’ve not seen any less number of vehicles on the roads today. This shows high level of per capita income after rebasing of GDP has absorbed all impact. Shame on those who call it a petrol bomb.”
جیو اور ڈان نیوز نے مزمل اسلم کے نام سے فیک ٹوئٹر ائی ڈی کے ٹوئٹ کو خبروں کا حصہ بنا لیا pic.twitter.com/RCfa4BODvk
— Fake News Alert (@Pk_FactChecker) February 16, 2022
The statement was attributed to Muzzammil Aslam who later clarified that it was a fake account by his name.
Followed by electronic media the print media of @dawn_com has published the fake Twitter account story of mine. Clearly shows the down fall of this media. I don’t know whether it’s ignorance or intentional but clearly they are doing their best to spread despondency pic.twitter.com/GWl697z5lv
— Muzzammil Aslam (@MuzzammilAslam3) February 17, 2022
My fake @chickenomist account is being followed by fake Imran Khan and him followed by @MaryamNSharif (real), @BBhuttoZardari @najamsethi pic.twitter.com/dI1jjTuGOf
— Muzzammil Aslam (@MuzzammilAslam3) February 16, 2022
Interestingly, Geo News and Dawn News had quickly aired breaking news on the basis of the tweet posted by the parody account.
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Dawn News has even quoted the same statement in the newspaper with the headline ‘Outrage across country over massive hike in oil prices’ and attributed it to the Finance Minister’s spokesperson.
The serious mistake made by the leading media outlets in a run to break stories without even scrutinising the factual grounds and following the basic procedures of fact-check.
Zarrar Khuhro criticised Geo News and Dawn News for the mistake, saying, “It is a situation like Fizza and Shiza.”
یہ توفضا شزا ہوگیا@ZarrarKhuhro @WusatUllahKhan @Dawn_News @Xadeejournalist
To watch the full episode click the link belowhttps://t.co/nuSS2fA2C3 pic.twitter.com/2dnh1Vg8Zk
— ZaraHatKay (@ZaraHatKay_Dawn) February 16, 2022
یہ توفضا شزا ہوگیا@ZarrarKhuhro @WusatUllahKhan @Dawn_News @Xadeejournalist
To watch the full episode click the link belowhttps://t.co/nuSS2fA2C3 pic.twitter.com/Ucv8bUWnb3
— ZaraHatKay (@ZaraHatKay_Dawn) February 16, 2022
Khuhro, however, called it a parody, not a fake account that clearly mentions its genre in the bio details. He censured newsroom staff to at least follow the basic fact-check steps before airing any story.
The Twitter account is temporarily blocked now.
