Post by Teddy Bear on Jun 3, 2015 17:11:48 GMT
See if the excuse used by this BBC journalist after tweeting the Queen was dead makes sense.
The BBC were running a rehearsal over how they would deal with the Queen's death. The staff were instructed not to use social media in this rehearsal.
But somehow one of them sent a tweet, first saying how the Queen was being treated in hospital, which by coincidence she was in a hospital for a routine check up, then after that she had died.
The journalist who had sent this tweet then claimed 'she had been hacked' and that her phone had been left at home and somebody else did it.
Really???
What a bizarre set of coincidences
The BBC were running a rehearsal over how they would deal with the Queen's death. The staff were instructed not to use social media in this rehearsal.
But somehow one of them sent a tweet, first saying how the Queen was being treated in hospital, which by coincidence she was in a hospital for a routine check up, then after that she had died.
The journalist who had sent this tweet then claimed 'she had been hacked' and that her phone had been left at home and somebody else did it.
Really???
What a bizarre set of coincidences
BBC embarrassed after journalist mistakenly tweeted that the Queen had DIED - then claimed it was a 'silly prank' by someone else using her phone
By Amanda Williams for MailOnline and Katharine Rushton, Media And Technology Editor For The Daily Mail
The BBC has been forced to issue an embarrassing apology, after it mistakenly announced the Queen's demise on Twitter.
The Corporation was having a rehearsal for what it would do in the event of a royal death, when a series of 'breaking news' alerts were sent from the Twitter account of one of its broadcast journalists, Ahmen Khawaja.
The first of a series of rogue tweets said: 'BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth is being treated at King Edward 7th Hospital in London. Statement due shortly: @bbcworld,' said the twitter message, which was sent shortly after 9.30am.
She then added: 'Queen Elizabrth [sic] has died.'
Miss Khawaja, a producer for BBC Urdu, quickly apologised and deleted the tweets – but not before the story had been picked up by news outlets around the world.
Miss Khawaja labeled her post a 'silly prank' which happened after she left her phone unattended.She later removed the offending tweet, claiming she had been hacked
NBC used her tweet in a story about the Queen's supposed death and CNN, the American television network, and Bild, the respected German newspaper, announced that the Queen had been hospitalised.
They deleted their messages after it became clear that Miss Khawaja's tweet had been a hoax.
It so happened that the Queen had gone for a routine check-up at the time. However, a BBC source admitted that that was a 'total coincidence'.
'I was rather hoping that would be our lifeline,' he added.
Buckingham palace was quick to confirm that the Queen remains in good health.
'I can confirm that The Queen this morning attended her annual medical check-up at the King Edward VII Hospital in London. This was a routine, pre- scheduled appointment. The Queen has now left the hospital,' a spokesman said.
She was due to host a reception for new and retired Lord Lieutenants – her personal representatives in each county – at the Palace on Wednesday evening.
However, it remains unclear how the tweet occurred.
Miss Khawaja suggested on Wednesday that someone had tampered with her phone, and sent the tweet as a joke. 'Phone left unattended at home. Silly prank. Apologies for upsetting anyone!,' she wrote.
Meanwhile, the BBC claimed that the erroneous tweet had been sent during one of its routine rehearsals for a royal death - but the BBC stressed that tweeting was not supposed to be part of the exercise.
'During a technical rehearsal for an obituary, tweets were mistakenly sent from the account of a BBC journalist saying that a member of the royal family had been taken ill,' a spokesperson said.
Ms Khawaja's claims she was the victim of a prank have been met with scepticism by other Twitter users
'The tweets were swiftly deleted and we apologise for any offence.'
The hour-long rehearsal began at around 9.30am on Wednesday, and would have included plans for what presenters should wear, and how they would announce the news of the Queen's demise.
Miss Khawaja is now facing disciplinary action over the gaffe.
The BBC's head of newsgathering, Jonathan Munro, had instructed staff to keep the run-through off social media.
'It's essential that we can rehearse these sensitive scenarios privately. I'd ask you to refrain from external conversations and social media activity about this exercise,' staff were told.
A source close to the situation said the Corporation was still trying to work out how the tweet had been sent as part of the run-through, given Miss Khawaja's phone was at home.
The 31-year old presenter has worked at the BBC for little over a year. She was previously a researcher at Al Jazeera.
On a professional profile, Ms Khawaja describes herself as a multimedia producer at BBC News, producing news bulletins for BBC Urdu's current affairs television programme Sairbeen.
- Ahmen Khawaja, a broadcast journalist, has since deleted the tweet
- It read: BREAKING:Queen Elizabeth is being treated at King Edward hospital in London'
- She later removed the offending post, claiming she had been hacked
- Buckingham Palace said the Queen had attended a 'routine check up'
By Amanda Williams for MailOnline and Katharine Rushton, Media And Technology Editor For The Daily Mail
The BBC has been forced to issue an embarrassing apology, after it mistakenly announced the Queen's demise on Twitter.
The Corporation was having a rehearsal for what it would do in the event of a royal death, when a series of 'breaking news' alerts were sent from the Twitter account of one of its broadcast journalists, Ahmen Khawaja.
The first of a series of rogue tweets said: 'BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth is being treated at King Edward 7th Hospital in London. Statement due shortly: @bbcworld,' said the twitter message, which was sent shortly after 9.30am.
She then added: 'Queen Elizabrth [sic] has died.'
Miss Khawaja, a producer for BBC Urdu, quickly apologised and deleted the tweets – but not before the story had been picked up by news outlets around the world.
Miss Khawaja labeled her post a 'silly prank' which happened after she left her phone unattended.She later removed the offending tweet, claiming she had been hacked
NBC used her tweet in a story about the Queen's supposed death and CNN, the American television network, and Bild, the respected German newspaper, announced that the Queen had been hospitalised.
They deleted their messages after it became clear that Miss Khawaja's tweet had been a hoax.
It so happened that the Queen had gone for a routine check-up at the time. However, a BBC source admitted that that was a 'total coincidence'.
'I was rather hoping that would be our lifeline,' he added.
Buckingham palace was quick to confirm that the Queen remains in good health.
'I can confirm that The Queen this morning attended her annual medical check-up at the King Edward VII Hospital in London. This was a routine, pre- scheduled appointment. The Queen has now left the hospital,' a spokesman said.
She was due to host a reception for new and retired Lord Lieutenants – her personal representatives in each county – at the Palace on Wednesday evening.
However, it remains unclear how the tweet occurred.
Miss Khawaja suggested on Wednesday that someone had tampered with her phone, and sent the tweet as a joke. 'Phone left unattended at home. Silly prank. Apologies for upsetting anyone!,' she wrote.
Meanwhile, the BBC claimed that the erroneous tweet had been sent during one of its routine rehearsals for a royal death - but the BBC stressed that tweeting was not supposed to be part of the exercise.
'During a technical rehearsal for an obituary, tweets were mistakenly sent from the account of a BBC journalist saying that a member of the royal family had been taken ill,' a spokesperson said.
Ms Khawaja's claims she was the victim of a prank have been met with scepticism by other Twitter users
'The tweets were swiftly deleted and we apologise for any offence.'
The hour-long rehearsal began at around 9.30am on Wednesday, and would have included plans for what presenters should wear, and how they would announce the news of the Queen's demise.
Miss Khawaja is now facing disciplinary action over the gaffe.
The BBC's head of newsgathering, Jonathan Munro, had instructed staff to keep the run-through off social media.
'It's essential that we can rehearse these sensitive scenarios privately. I'd ask you to refrain from external conversations and social media activity about this exercise,' staff were told.
A source close to the situation said the Corporation was still trying to work out how the tweet had been sent as part of the run-through, given Miss Khawaja's phone was at home.
The 31-year old presenter has worked at the BBC for little over a year. She was previously a researcher at Al Jazeera.
On a professional profile, Ms Khawaja describes herself as a multimedia producer at BBC News, producing news bulletins for BBC Urdu's current affairs television programme Sairbeen.