German magazine falls for Waterford Whispers story on Lidl carnage
German news magazine Focus reported this morning on a shocking stampede in Dunboyne's Lidl, which injured more than 30.
The incident came down to just a single cash register being open, resulting in the dangerous surge when a second became available, the news site reports.
... , who wondered how they could have missed such a major story. Luckily, a clue was found in the diligent citing of sources by Focus:
Oh dear. That, of course, would be Ireland's finest satirical news source.
Yes, a news outlet fell for Waterford Whispers' satire. Their original piece, published yesterday, cited eyewitness Sheila Mannion "who had spent the time leading up to the stampede bitching about how she only had a loaf of bread and should have been let go ahead of those with full trolleys."
Quotes which were, of course, picked up by our German colleagues.
Nor did Focus seem to notice anything unusual about the reluctance to open more than one checkout "as this would cut down on the amount of staff available to push pallets of bottled water around the shop at all times."
The news magazine has a print circulation of about 500,000, according to 2014 figures.
The article has now been corrected - after readers told the outlet what an enormous mistake they've made, and media blog Bildblog.de laid into their oversight.
Focus now hosts a version of the article with a last paragraph proclaiming "Waterford Whispers News is a satirical newspaper", but also defending the article as a popular piece of fun on social media.
And right at the end, in tiny italics, the editor's note: "an earlier version of the article did not warn that it was a satire post." Bless.
