The Times Scores an Own Goal Thanks to Wikipedia Journalism
It’s emerged that The Times have made themselves look a little bit silly, by ranking a footballer that doesn’t even exist in their ‘50 Best Young Footballers List’. You might ask how journalists working for a national newspaper (presumably fighting to keep their jobs) could let such a thing happen. Well, apparently – and not particularly surprisingly – it all began with Wikipedia.
In at number 30 on the list came one Masal Bugduv. “Moldova’s finest, the 16-year-old attacker has been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal, work permitting. And he’s been linked with plenty other top clubs as well”. Pretty impressive for someone who doesn’t exist.
According to a writer on footy website Soccerlens, who took the time to do some very impressive detective work (or you could just call it journalism) the young hopeful also featured on goal.com and When Saturday Comes. The second of which, incidentally, describes itself as ‘The half decent football magazine’.
It seems journalists were fooled because there were also fake news stories and blog posts reassuring the world of Bugdav’s existence – see here, here and here.
It’s difficult to judge who looks more stupid in this: the journalists, who have been exposed as not really knowing their subject or the prankster, who clearly has too much time on his hands.
Maybe we should let the journos at The Times off – after all, they did have to battle a bird out of the office that week. Who’s got time to check facts?
Posted by Ruth Stokes in Creative Economy | January 20, 2009 10:27AM |
January 20th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I’m surprise they had time to even edit the cut and pasted wikipedia article, now that jouralists are meant to be multi-hubbing and podding all day everyday, i.e. doing three people’s jobs for less money than a pig washer.
January 20th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Classic. Love the fact that this Masal Bugduv character has essentially written himself into Moldovan football history via a self-created Wikipedia entry and a bogus AP story. Also love his agents comments in the press release:
“I have no doubt that he has the ability of Fabregas and Nasri, but he needs a stage to perform and prove this.”
Sad to think Bugduv’s dreams of faking his way into the Premiership have been ruined! And he was getting so close too…
I seem to remember something similar happening when Graeme Souness was the manager of Southampton, and signed a park player because the guy’s “agent” told him he was George Weah’s cousin.
January 26th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
This is yet another proof that the same newspapers that routinely and smugly dismiss Wikipedia as publishing “unverified” facts written by “amateurs” do exactly the same.
Except that Wikipedia has disclaimers saying so, and does not make you pay for the result.