Late last night, I came across a news post about a fatal shark attack in Jeffrey’s Bay. For whatever reason, the article’s publish date was set to July 24th, 2015. I wrote a short piece about it, and as it turns out, it was an attack that happened in 2013.
Within three minutes of publishing, I realized I had made an error, and pulled the story down. Unfortunately, with Mick Fanning’s recent brush with a Great White Shark in J-Bay and all the clamor surrounding it, the story gained a lot of traction in a very short period of time, when in fact it was not breaking news. Given the hysteria around sharks at the moment and our desire to ethically contribute to that (and every) conversation, this just reinforces the need to more closely research breaking news events so we can deliver accurate and timely stories to the public.
My deepest apologies for not doing my due diligence and to the family and friends of the victim of the 2013 attack. Thanks to everyone who alerted us to the error. It’s a mistake that will enable us to continue improving and holding ourselves to the highest standards of reporting.
