Most people realize that much of the information circulating on the Internet these days is bogus.
They see a story that seems too good to be true and they immediately check sites like “Snopes” or “Truth or Fiction” to determine its authenticity.
Lately, however, the major media outlets have had so many stories completely wrong, one now has to question whether many of them do any more fact-checking than a teen writing a story in his basement.
Maybe the media are paying the price for letting go their best (and most highly paid) talent for budget reasons. Old editors have taken their buyouts and their replacements’ knowledge goes back five years instead of 40.
Maybe journalists are too busy writing stories and then going on TV and radio to hype them.
Fresh off the embarrassing lack of “journalism” by “Rolling Stone” magazine where a young girl’s rape story proved to be too good to verify by writer Sabrina Erdely, New York magazine now admits its story by a female reporter about a high school senior named Mohammed Islam, who reportedly had made a fortune investing in the stock market, was bogus.
Not to be outdone, the New York Post followed up that story with one of its own titled: “High school student scores $72M playing the stock market.” It noted the kid made his fortune on his lunch breaks at high school.
The real figure the boy made in the market was zero. The entire story was fabricated by Islam and a friend who wanted to be part of the action.
The New York Observer sat down with Islam and the friend involved in the fictional story (LINK) to provide the gruesome details of the scam.
Unfortunately, since the original story began with a major New York publication, the story continued to grow.
“He has already bought a BMW car even though hasn’t got a driver’s license,” breathlessly reported RT News. “He has also rented an apartment in Manhattan, but his parents are against him moving out.”
The author of the original magazine piece, Jessica Pressler, even defended the story on Twitter, according to Business Insider.
“She claimed she saw a bank statement with the eight figures and is comfortable with what’s in the piece. She also noted the story appeared in New York Magazine’s “Reasons to Love New York” issue and pointed out the magazine “is not a financial publication.”
When the dust settles, it is once again another black eye for the journalism profession.
Veteran freelance writer Dan Lybarger has some sage advice for aspiring journalists to keep in mind: “The old saying among scribblers is ‘If your mother says she loves you, check it out.’”