Faux Foreign Secretary dupes UK press with Jackson Tweet

British MP and Foreign Secretary David Miliband did not Tweet about the death of Michael Jackson yesterday. But this fact was lost on The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Mirror, The Evening Standard, and the AFP news service. In their rush to turn Web2.0rhea into news, each was duped into believing that Miliband …

[Anonymous Coward]

See...

This is why we all need ID cards!

[Insane Reindeer]

It made it across the pond as well...

...Just read about it in the Washington Post of all places! Man the whole world has gone nuts, and only seems to be going more so!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/26/AR2009062601715_2.html

[jake]

Stop it with the MJ stories, already.

Why is the world's press deifying the almost mediocre pop-star/kiddie-fiddler? Seriously ... his self-importance was nearly as great as that of Madonna the talentless, but he wasn't quite as gifted musically. He's dead, we get it. So what? No need to continue writing about it.

[pctechxp]

Johnny Cash

Was more of a loss to music than MJ could have been in his wildest dreams.

[Anonymous Coward]

@jake

Er, this was a story about (1) the gullibility of the press and (2) the pointlessness of twitter. Oh, and someone called Michael Jackson got a passing mention as did crabs, cows, Bob Dylan, Carlie's War, aliens and crop circles. Sounds like you are the one who needs to stop obsessing on MJ.

[jake]

@jsp

"Sounds like you are the one who needs to stop obsessing on MJ."

C'mon. The news is inundated with MJ crap. Twitter is inundated with people pretending to be celebretards. ElReg (almost) never comments on the other twittenders. The only reason ElReg commented on this one was MJ's passing being all over the news, thus allowing ElReg to push more advertising.

It's called "exploiting celebretards at the expense of the drooling masses".

Or "capitalism" for short. Not that there is anything wrong with that ;-)

[Terry Pears]

BBC

You can add BBC News 24 to that list, I remember hearing about it on there and thought it a bit weird for a politician like Miliband to come out with such rubbish... but then again he is in the cabinet.

Paris, 'cos when she "tweets" it usually involves a nightvision camera and lots of personal "company".

[Anonymous Coward]

@Stop it with the MJ stories, already.

Michael Jackson's dead?

Bloody hell - they kept that quiet....

[Anonymous Coward]

Twitter Twatter

Janet Jackson to the Funeral Director; Do you take plastic?

(PS A loudhailer? Like we need one here)

[Anonymous Coward]

famous people

die, we get it. The internet is used to spread rumours and (mis)information, we get it. Now how long can we run with these 2 sentences for a cost of next to nothing. 1 week a bit optimistic?

24 hours news hasnt been this excited since, erm... swine flu.

[Anonymous Coward]

Does it occur to anyone..

That there might possibly be more than one person named David Milliband?

[David Kesterson]

I learned a new word

apposite - highly pertinent or appropriate

Thank you, Cade Metz, if there is really a Cade Metz.