In June, a BBC journalist tweeted that Queen Elizabeth “has died.” The journo apparently believed a BBC rehearsal for the woman’s death was the real thing. Part of the rehearsal coincidentally occurred at a hospital that England’s monarch was visiting for an annual check-up.
The journalist, realizing her flub, deleted the tweet and issued a “false alarm.” She also claimed the mistake was the result of a “silly prank.” The false news spread across social and traditional media, however, and some news organizations had to withdraw their related stories.
The incident could have been avoided if the journalist hadn’t used her personal Twitter account to report the “news,” according to Rohit Valia, founder and CEO of Cafyne, Inc. BBC’s official Twitter account would presumably have been more properly managed to prevent such gaffes, he says.