Satire is often mistaken as genuine by confused readers. And stories pointing to a WordPress article that claims that MH370 was stolen by a prince from Saudi Arabia is another example of this type of confusion.
Often the satirical articles being mistaken as true are simply badly written satire that one could perhaps forgive a reader for misidentifying it as genuine news.
But this latest article – that claims the missing flight was located “in the garden” of a Saudi Arabian Prince named Sahram Al-Sandshoo of Jeddah who has since been feeding the passengers “a banquet of sheep testicles and wine” – really is quite obviously not meant to be taken seriously.
Which is why we’re a little perplexed as to just why we are being asked if it is real, or why this tale is being spread across social media under the assertion that it is (or might be) authentic news.
The article can be traced back to a blog called the Daily Skid.
We’ve said is thousands of times – only get your news from reputable news outlets. Pick your top three that you know only report actual news (and not satire) and stick to them.
In this day and age it only takes a matter of minutes for these media outlets to start reporting on breaking news, ensuring you’re never out of the loop when it comes to the latest developments.
And when it comes to deciding whether to trust an article that claims the MH370 flight was located because the prince “placed an advert on eBay offering a ‘Used Boeing 777 Black Box Recorder’ “, we recommend employing a bit of critical thinking.
