December 3, 2004
WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF THE BBC BEING DUPED?:
BBC World TV hit by Bhopal hoax (Stephanie Kirchgaessner and David Firn in London, December 3 2004, Financial Times)
BBC World television said on Friday it was investigating how it had been duped into running an interview on the aftermath of the 1984 Bhopal disaster with a hoaxer claiming to be a spokesman for Dow Chemical.
Welcome to the Dow Chemical Broadcasting Corporation after this lawsuit.
Posted by Orrin Judd at December 3, 2004 1:24 PM
They were duped because they did no research. The Bhopal plant was Union Carbide's. I googled that in about three seconds.
Posted by: Mikey at December 3, 2004 1:37 PM"You can't cheat an honest man" as applied to journalism.
Like Dan Rather and Mary Mapes, they heard a story so good and such a good fit with their prejudices that they couldn't dare verify it because either they knew it wouldn't hold up, or that it was so obvioius that there was no need.
(And Union Carbide was the minority owner (49+%) of the Bhopal plant . The majority owner was the Indian Government, which had a conflict of interest when its own safety laws were not being properly enforced when they interferered in plant operations.)
In England truth is no defense to libel, as the Galloway-Telegraph case shows, and lies are no evidence for libel. So why will there be a lawsuit?
Posted by: pj at December 3, 2004 4:27 PMMikey, three seconds is not sufficient. Union Carbide is now a wholly owned subsidary of Dow Chemical. Link.
Posted by: Uncle Bill at December 4, 2004 11:19 AMMikey, three seconds is not sufficient. Union Carbide is now a wholly owned subsidary of Dow Chemical. Link.
Posted by: Uncle Bill at December 4, 2004 11:22 AM