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Posted on 12/16/2003 11:41:41 PM PST by JohnHuang2
Sky News fined over fake report
From correspondents in London
December 17, 2003A BRITISH media watchdog said today it had fined satellite station Sky News £50,000 ($117,674) over a faked report during the war with Iraq.
Sky correspondent James Forlong claimed to have a live exclusive showing a missile being fired at Iraq from the British Royal Navy submarine HMS Splendid.But it later emerged that at the time of the supposed firing the submarine had been docked, with the dramatic coverage comprising a mixture of library footage and a fake missile launch process staged for the cameras by crew.
Forlong, 44, resigned in July as a result of the incident. He committed suicide in October. Britain's Independent Television Commission ruled that his report breached guidelines on accuracy and misled viewers.
It said: "Audiences are reliant on the accuracy of news reports, particularly during times of war."
The US-led offensive against Iraq, which was strongly backed by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was launched on March 20.
The faked report, shown in various forms between March 31 and April 2, was a deep embarrassment for Sky, which has carefully established a reputation for speed and accuracy since it became Britain's first 24-hour news channel in 1989.
The television commission said, however, that Sky "did not seek to evade or minimise the importance of what had occurred".
It was an isolated incident "and the only occasion when Sky's reporting of the Iraq war had been called into question".
The commission also noted that Forlong was an experienced journalist whose reports had never previously proved to be inaccurate.
Sky News is part of BSkyB.
Agence France-Presse
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Oh they would love that, raise taxes to pay themselves the fines and add new supervisory positions to 'make sure it doesn't happen again'.
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