This is CNN… issuing a correction over a viral, user-posted report that a giant asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, and would wipe out life on the planet on March 35, 2041. Now “the most trusted name in news” has house egg on its face.
The report, known as “Giant asteroid possibly on collision course with Earth,” was posted over the weekend by iReport person Marcus575. It quoted NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as saying a 10-mile huge object is on a trajectory that may carry a “high speed collision course with our fragile planet” from 51 million miles away or so. The date of the “potentially lethal encounter” was listed as “March 35, 2041.”
The publish notes in a number of locations it’s not vetted for or by CNN. See a screenshot of the iReport under, captured by NASA Watch’s Cowing.
The iReport was pulled down on Monday, however not earlier than it acquired over 250,000 views and was shared over 24,000 occasions on Facebook, Salon reported. Not to say, a number of main publications linked to it, in keeping with CNET.
CNN changed the publish with a press release: “NASA has confirmed via email that this story is false. A spokeswoman for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory says that the largest object detected by NEOWISE measures 3 km in diameter and poses no risk to Earth. The iReport has been removed,” a CNN iReport producer wrote.
Now that we all know we’re not all going to die, nor do we have to ship Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck into house with a nuclear bomb (and Steven Tyler wailing within the background), the media is focusing on how the hoax will have an effect on the status of the primary 24-hour cable information community.
“CNN destroyed by huge asteroid: What happens when a news [organization] fails to fact-check or monitor user-generated content? Your brand goes boom,” the Salon headline concerning the faux publish learn.