From the Liveblog of
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Fake TOI screenshot makes the rounds
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleA falsified screenshot of The Times of Israel’s homepage makes social media rounds over the weekend, purportedly showing a report of Israel’s airstrikes on the Gaza Strip being screened on a Tel Aviv beach.
The screenshot is, obviously, a doctored photo.
The headline on the supposed screenshot, dating from Thursday, July 17, ungrammatically reads “Tel-Aviv municipality to install giant screens on beach to watch IDF offensive in live.” The picture and text are reminiscent of controversial (and real) photos of Sderot residents sitting on a hilltop to watch the Israeli Air Force conduct air raids on the Strip.
The underline of the “story” reads: “Finally, IDF supporters will have the opportunity to enjoy their favorite game in an ideal environment. Hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to gather on the beach tonight and enjoy the warm summer evening while counting the F-16 strikes on the nearby coastal city of Gaza.”
The original photo was actually taken over a month ago, on June 16, 2014 — not in Tel Aviv, but in Brazil. The shot, taken by Associated Press photographer Wong Maye-E, depicts two men relaxing between games in front of a blank screen erected on the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro for fans to watch live broadcasts of the World Cup.
The fake screenshot supposedly taken from The Times of Israel was first posted on Thursday, July 17. It was uploaded to Twitter by user @boun0479, who identifies himself as Nicolas Bousserez, an atmospheric scientist and musician from Boulder, Colorado, and retweeted — at the time of writing — 267 times.
The Times of Israel Community.