Incidences like today’s terror attack in London – which left four people dead, including the suspect, and another 20 injured – are ripe for the spread of misinformation as media scramble to identify the facts amidst total chaos. (Remember the whole Boston bomber fiasco?)
But uh, this still isn’t great: UK television station Channel 4 wrongly identified the suspect as Abu Izzadeen (formerly known as Trevor Brooks), an Islamist militant who was sentenced to two years in January 2016 for breaching the Terrorism Act.
.@Channel4News pull the +1 broadcast of their news three mins in after incorrectly naming individual as responsible for Westminster attack pic.twitter.com/dsjDzM6NX2
— Chris Stokel-Walker (@stokel) March 22, 2017
During the programme, Channel 4 said that “conflicting information came to light” about the suspect’s identity.
Statement from Channel 4 News pic.twitter.com/34QLcQasLI
— Hayley Barlow (@Hayley_Barlow) March 22, 2017
As it turns out, Izzadeen is still very much in jail. Channel 4 news editor Ben de Pear sought to make the correction.
1/2 Tonight our trusted Correspondent @simonisrael made a mistake in naming the wrong person as the suspect in the parliament attack.
— Ben de Pear (@bendepear) March 22, 2017
2/2 in years of award winning coverage @simonisrael has rarely been wrong; tonight he was. Abu Izzadeen is in prison & not the suspect
— Ben de Pear (@bendepear) March 22, 2017
Both Channel 4 and Simon Israel, the senior correspondent who made the error, have apologised.
The source I trusted, but ultimately I made a mistake. This time I got it wrong. Abu Izzadeen is in prison.
— simon israel (@simonisrael) March 22, 2017
Further Channel 4 News statement pic.twitter.com/yA3xsCQ9ZU
— Hayley Barlow (@Hayley_Barlow) March 22, 2017
The suspect’s name has not been released.
Photo: PA.
