It’s amazing what people will share on social media these days without so much as opening another tab and verifying any semblance of truth.

I don’t think I need to point out any examples, for a case study scroll through your timeline and I’m sure something will pop up.

We expect more from the bigger TV networks though, which is why many are under fire for airing footage they mistakenly believed was from the Brussels Airport bombing.

Here’s INSIDE EDITION admitting their mistake:

The grainy surveillance footage was shared online within hours of the attacks on Tuesday and was featured by multiple media outlets, including INSIDE EDITION…

Other outlets also shared different black-and-white footage which has since emerged to be from an attack in Belarus in 2011. Fifteen people lost their lives on the Minsk Metro in the incident.

The BBC digs a little deeper into how this came to be:

So what were the clues?

The video was grainy, black and white, and it didn’t show any clear indication that it was filmed at the airport in question.

Then there was the timing. It is highly unusual for CCTV material, normally belonging to airport security, to be released so quickly and by an unofficial source.

If you watch this video below it’s the first 30 seconds that have raised eyebrows, some snooping revealing that footage is indeed from the 2011 attack:

I guess we can blame the age of online journalism for that, no time allowed for scrupulous fact-checking when every minute you’re late to the party can cost you thousands of clicks.

[sources:insideedition&bbc]

[imagesource:independent]