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BBC reputation hit by Bhopal interview hoax
Guardian ^ | 12/04/04 | Matt Wells

Posted on 12/03/2004 9:07:26 PM PST by Pikamax

BBC reputation hit by Bhopal interview hoax

Matt Wells and Randeep Ramesh in Delhi Saturday December 4, 2004 The Guardian

The BBC's worldwide reputation for accuracy took a blow yesterday after it broadcast an interview with a hoaxer who claimed to offer a $12bn settlement to the 120,000 surviving victims of the Bhopal disaster.

Hopes were raised in India when the BBC's international news channel, BBC World, interviewed a man identified as a representative of Dow Chemical, which now runs the Bhopal plant after taking over Union Carbide.

He said Dow accepted full responsibility for the world's worst industrial disaster, which has claimed the lives of 20,000 people over the past 20 years, and left many more with chronic health problems.

But it soon emerged that Jude Finisterra was a hoaxer who has targeted Dow Chemical in the past. His interview, which was picked up and reported internationally, was shown twice on BBC World, and on BBC television and radio in Britain, before it was pulled.

"Today I am very, very happy to announce that today, for the first time Dow is accepting full responsibility for the Bhopal catastrophe. This is a momentous occasion," he said in the live interview. In public, the BBC said it had moved "swiftly" to correct the mistake and stressed it had been the victim of an "elaborate" hoax.

It condemned the actions of Mr Finisterra as a "tasteless publicity stunt". But in private, some BBC journalists expressed surprise that the hoax was not identified more quickly: the apology seemed extraordinary because Dow maintains that it has "no responsibility" for Bhopal.

The corporation said a producer on BBC World had been asked to book a representative from Dow for the 20th anniversary of the disaster. He went to the Dow website, and was directed to the media relations section. Email correspondence and phone calls followed, which resulted in yesterday's interview with Mr Finisterra from the corporation's Paris office.

It appears that part of the Dow website had been hijacked in a detailed and carefully planned operation.

The corporation was keen to stress that it was the victim of a stunt. It said in a statement: "This interview was inaccurate, part of an elaborate deception. The person did not represent the company and we want to make clear that the information he gave was entirely inaccurate." Dow confirmed that Mr Finisterra did not work for the company.

The incident raises the issue of internet security, and the BBC said its procedures regarding the trustworthiness of information obtained from websites would be reviewed.

Mr Finisterra later told The World at One on Radio 4 that he was part of Yes Men group, which hoaxes businesses and governments."I was speaking on behalf of Dow in a certain way. I was expressing what they should express."

He added that he had heard Bhopal residents had broken down in tears when they learned of the report, and he felt bad about it.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bbc; bhopal; hoax

1 posted on 12/03/2004 9:07:26 PM PST by Pikamax
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To: Pikamax
BBC--What reputation?

At best, a left-leaning skeleton of its former superb self.

I remember the service the organization provided Britain during WW-II. What a shame that over the decades, leftist social pressures have rent the historically magnificent BBC of its moorings.
2 posted on 12/03/2004 9:23:16 PM PST by dk/coro
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To: Pikamax

Wonder how many BBC interviews with "officials", "military personnel", "diplomats", etc. condemning the war in Iraq will emerge as hoaxes?


3 posted on 12/03/2004 9:28:58 PM PST by citizencon
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To: Pikamax
It appears that part of the Dow website had been hijacked in a detailed and carefully planned operation.

No sympathy for the Beeb here, but I am astounded that someone would go through the effort of hijacking web pages just to pull off a spoof.

Corporate IT departments take note: It looks like you have to give ironclad protection to ALL web pages, regardless of their apparent insignificance.

4 posted on 12/03/2004 9:30:36 PM PST by litany_of_lies
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To: Pikamax
He added that he had heard Bhopal residents had broken down in tears when they learned of the report, and he felt bad about it.

Maybe he and his "Yes Man Group" should go to Bhopal and explain to the residents that it was just a joke.

5 posted on 12/03/2004 9:36:56 PM PST by Cowboy Bob (Fraud is the lifeblood of the Democratic Party)
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To: litany_of_lies

Guardian is wrong, it wasn't a hijack, the BBC tool that went looking for information hit a fake website.


6 posted on 12/03/2004 9:37:10 PM PST by Pikamax
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To: Pikamax

Well, at least they were only reporting a lie without bothering to fact check it rather then just making up stories on their own as they've become known for...


7 posted on 12/03/2004 9:41:36 PM PST by swilhelm73 (Dowd wrote that Kerry was defeated by a "jihad" of Christians...Finally – a jihad liberals oppose!)
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To: Pikamax
Geez, this "Bhopal anniversary hoax" has been going on for at least 2 years:

Bhopal Critics in Web Hoax Against Dow Chemical

By CLAUDIA H. DEUTSCH
From The New York Times, December 9, 2002 (original here)

Last Tuesday, on the 18th anniversary of the lethal gas spill at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, that killed thousands of people, journalists received an e-mail press release claiming to be from Dow Chemical, which now owns Union Carbide. It was a fake, as was the Web site called up by a hyperlink in the e-mail.

The release supposedly explained why Dow refuses to clean up Bhopal or help people who remain sick from the spill. The link was to dow-chemical.com, a Web site that looked much like Dow's real Dow.com site, but that included such fake items as a "draft" of a speech by Dow's chief executive, Michael D. Parker, disavowing Dow's responsibility for Bhopal.

The hoax was the work of the Yes Men, a group of critics of business and government who gained attention in 2000 with Gatt.org, a bogus World Trade Organization site...

If the Beeb thinks that setting up a fake Website using a similar URL (dow-chemical.com) is an "elaborate" hoax, they really need to get out more.

8 posted on 12/03/2004 9:53:34 PM PST by macbee ("Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake." - Napoleon Bonaparte)
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To: Pikamax
You would think the BBC would have had a clue when the alleged Dow spokesman signed off
with "Bababooie bababooie bababooie, Howard Stern rules, bababooie bababooie"
9 posted on 12/03/2004 9:56:43 PM PST by Calvin Locke
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To: Pikamax
Guardian is wrong, it wasn't a hijack.

Curious as to where you learned it wasn't a hijack, especially since Guardian says the hoaxers hijacked PART of Dow's web site.

Link would be appreciated. If you're right, a little more detail and conscientiousness from the Guardian wouldn't have hurt either.

10 posted on 12/04/2004 8:03:30 AM PST by litany_of_lies
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