Phony Hurricane Photo

I know a lot of sites are linking to this photo. As long as you’re here, please feel free to visit the rest of my site – Thanks for stopping by.

Geoff Fox

What is it about the Internet that makes people so gullible? Already today there’s been the swen worm from my dad and now yet another dubious photo. This time it’s Hurricane Isabel as a ship approaches.

How many things are wrong with the photo? The water’s calm. The skies are mainly blue. The ‘hurricane’ which took up a few hundred miles, fits nicely in the photo.

Hurricanes aren’t all of a sudden events… they ease in a little at a time.

This photo will be filed away with the NE Blackout satellite image, the smiling tourist atop the World Trade Center Observatory as the first plane barreled in, and all manner of goofy, tearjerker e-mails about dying kids and picture postcards.

The Internet has made us all publishers. But most publishers understand there’s an obligation to do some fact checking before you send something on its way.

On the Internet, lots of people want to break that big story. It’s just not that easy.

One thought on “Phony Hurricane Photo”

  1. Geoff Fox Sets The Record Straight

    As you may have seen, there’s a picture purporting to be of Hurricane Isabel floating around the net. I’ve seen it on Gothamist and Cat Schwartz (from TechTV)’s blog. I’m sure it’s in a zillion other places as well. I can usually spot a fake pretty eas…

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