Once again the mainstream media world have been fooled by a fake news website as rumours that a police officer named David Myers helped rapper Tupac Shakur fake his own death.
Tupac, or 2Pac, was shot and killed back in 1996 during a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, and the murder remains unsolved. Many fans of the rapper have long maintained that his death had been staged.
And an article on September 13th from Daily Media Buzz seemed to finally confirm those theories after claiming police officer David Myers, whilst on his own deathbed, finally confessed to helping Tupac fake his own death after being paid 1.5 million dollars. The article claimed Myers said –
The world needs to know what I did. I’m ashamed that I let a price be put on my word and I cannot die without letting the world know.
Since Daily Media Buzz posted that story, other websites started to pick up on it. These included entertainment site The Lad Bible, the UK’s The Mirror, The International Business Times and Yahoo Celebrity, as well as a wealth of high profile blogs.
The story how it appeared on the Daily Media Buzz website.
The only problem – Daily Media Buzz, the original source, is a fake news website. They post an array of nonsense since the sites was created in early 2015, including a silly story about how Stevie Wonder just found out he was blind. The photo of “David Myers” – the cop apparently confessing all – was actually of a man named Walter Williams who had nothing to do with Tupac whatsoever!
This apparently didn’t stop the story from spreading, and still spreading it is now. Many of the mainstream media sites have since updated their articles to state that the story is likely a hoax, but still carry the same headlines, causing the rumour to spread virally still.
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This isn’t the first time the media have been fooled by fake news sites. Earlier this year many outlets picked up on a fake story about a woman whose butt implants exploded during squats at the gym, and then there is the story of the 3 breasted masseuse.
Another reminder for all those mainstream journalists and bloggers out there – fact checking is everything. Perhaps we can suggest reading our article about detecting fake news websites before publishing your stories! And if any of you need any tips, we’re here to help!
