i remember hearing about this a while ago, but wanted to share for those who are wikipedia-obsessed. there was a soc student in Dublin who altered a wikipedia page with false information to see how it would go in terms of newspaper reporting.
French composer Maurice Jarre died in March and it was widely reported that he said, “One could say my life itself has been one long soundtrack. Music was my life, music brought me to life, and music is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head, that only I can hear.” this was the false entry the student created on wikipedia.
he wrote that fabricated line to see how journalists would use the information. and use it they did. i guess any college freshman can be a reporter.
"A full month went by and nobody noticed the editorial fraud. So Fitzgerald told several media outlets in an e-mail and the corrections began. 'I was really shocked at the results from the experiment...I am 100 percent convinced that if I hadn't come forward, that quote would have gone down in history as something Maurice Jarre said, instead of something I made up.'"
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