Times really have changed since I was in journalism school what seems live forever ago.
At the time, we had ethics and the importance of truth and accuracy repeatedly emphasized to us in pretty much every class we took.
Of course, this was back when we typed on typewriters and did most of the work on the paper on, well paper.
Now, it’s all electronic. From typing my stories on computer to designing the pages, uploading photos and posting the whole kit and caboodle onto the Wetaskiwin Times website and Facebook pages.
I remember when bloggers first started out and everyone who sat behind a keyboard and posted online called themselves a reporter and it made my eye twitch.
When my family wants to share a bit of news with me, especially if it sounds a little out there, I’ll ask them to check their source and make sure it is reputable because anyone anywhere can put anything they want on the Internet and it’s up to us as consumers to determine if it’s true or not.
This past weekend, however, I got hit full on in the face with something I never saw coming.
I got a phone call asking me what I was doing sharing false information about COVID-19 cases and a fatality in Wetaskiwin.
I told the caller I had no clue what he was talking about and had never written a story like that as I know full well Wetaskiwin has thus far been blessed to have no fatalities from COVID-19.
As we navigated the links that had led him to me, I realized someone had taken a page off of the Wetaskiwin Times website and they had used it as a template with my name and the Times logo to write a 100 per cent made up story. Not only did the site it was linked to have inaccurate information about the population of Wetaskiwin and the number of cases of COVID-19 in the city, but the information in the story was wrong on so many levels — including the URL.
Needless to say, I contacted our security people who explained how this could happen and while we are making every effort to get it pulled down, I have a new bit of advice — not only will I ask you to check your sources and hope you count the Wetaskiwin Times as a reliable and accurate source of community news but I will ask you now, before you share those stories, check the URL and make sure it has wetaskiwintimes.com. If it doesn’t it is fake news in the truest sense of the word.
Questions of comments? Email cmax@postmedia.com
