THE BBC, as the Jouker knows only too well, does not always get things right.
The latest example has been provided by Irish outlet TheJournal.ie, which was forced to Fact-Check a nonsense claim in a BBC report of a speech by European Council president Donald Tusk.
A BBC story on the EU chief’s speech in Brussels, with the headline “Donald Tusk: Special place in hell for Brexiteers”, sparked outrage among some Leave-voting social media users.
The DUP’s Sammy Wilson, whose archaic political outlook ensures he is never short of sources for outrage, was among those to speak out.
My response to the devilish, trident wielding, euro maniac, Donald Tusk ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/wguBeW6mn9
— Sammy Wilson MP (@eastantrimmp) February 6, 2019
Tusk spoke alongside Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who appeared to say “they’ll give you terrible trouble, the British press” after the address.
READ MORE: Leo Varadkar and Donald Tusk share laugh at Theresa May's expense
However, Scottish Twitter user Rob McDowall called the BBC headline “misleading”.
This is the type of misleading BBC headline which infuriates Scots and have left many Scots feeling there is a substantial and significant disconnect with the BBC and fact. He didn't say there was a special place in hell for Brexiteers. pic.twitter.com/6yqnhThA9F
— Rob McDowall (@robmcd85) February 6, 2019
So did Donald Tusk actually say there was a special place in hell for Brexiteers?
No stone was left un-turned by the fact-checkers, who first provided the Oxford dictionary definition of Brexiteer as anyone who is in favour of Brexit.
Using footage of the speech and the official text, it was shown in the final sentence Tusk said: “By the way, I’ve been wondering what the special place in hell looks like for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it [out] safely.”
READ MORE: EU president says there's a 'special place in hell' for these Brexiteers
It turns out Tusk specifically referred to only Brexiteers who promoted the UK’s withdrawal for the EU without a clear vision of how to do it safely. He was evidently not talking about every person in the UK who favours Brexit.
The fact-checkers added: “Voters would not be expected [by the European Council] to have a plan on how to carry out the proposals – it is well established that this is the job of politicians and in particular those in government.”
We agree, but are yet to be convinced that the UK Government has realised that this is the case.
Considering the evidence, the BBC claim was deemed to be “false”. The BBC appeared to concur, later adding “without a plan” to their headline.
Quite the mistake to make...
In the era of fact-checking services, you can’t be too careful.
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