A picture (clip, post, item) has just appeared which is damaging and possibly defamatory to our client, who is panicking. It’s just the kind of thing that could go viral. There’s no time to lose: we need to (a) respond or (b) shut it down.
Our first question should be: is it real?
A lot of online stories aren’t, and the number is growing.
The media themselves face the same question: is it real? Some outlets don’t care (why let the facts get in the way of a good story?) but most do.
Craig Silverman of the Tow Center at Columbia has put together a group of journalists and editors who have pooled best practice in identifying fake stories.
The result is the Verification Handbook. You can see it here.
It’s intended for journalists who care about authenticity, but it’s freely available to us as well.
The tools in the Verification Handbook help us identify fabricated stories and dodgy sources. This means we can save our clients wasted time and worry.
What then? Branded outlets care about their reputations and don’t knowingly carry sham stories. Demand deletion. If they hesitate, call a good media lawyer.
What about pseudo-sites where you can’t tell who they are and you can’t contact them? My advice is to forget about them. Everyone else will.