Outline
Circulating report claims that 18 million blackbirds fell dead on New Year’s Eve in Beebe, Arkansas. The message includes an image depicting a worker picking up the bodies of the dead birds.
Brief Analysis
The claims in the message are false. The report originates from the satirical website “RockCity Times” and is a work of fiction. The image has been digitally manipulated. The original photograph showed only a scattering of dead birds. It was taken in 2011 during clean up after a real mass bird death event.
Example
18 Million Blackbirds Dead on New Year’s Eve in Beebe, Species Likely Extinct
Beebe, AR — Wildlife officials estimate that over 18 million black birds fell to their death over a one mile area within Beebe Arkansas at midnight.This marks the fourth consecutive year that the birds have died at midnight on New Year’s Eve in the same area. The number of birds this year greatly exceed previous year’s totals.
Detailed Analysis
According to a report that is currently travelling via social media and the blogosphere, 18 million blackbirds died on New Year’s Eve in Beebe, Arkansas. The report claims that the red-winged blackbirds fell to their deaths over a one-mile area right on midnight and the species is now likely extinct.
The report includes an image supposedly depicting a street strewn with masses of blackbird bodies and a worker apparently tackling the massive job of picking them all up.
However, the claims in the story are false. The report comes courtesy of the satirical website, “RockCity Times”. The site makes its satirical nature quite clear to visitors. Its title banner includes the slogan, “Arkansas’ 2nd most unreliable news source”. A disclaimer in the footer of the site’s pages notes:
The content on here is presented as fictional news with an intent for humor.
And, a link labelled “Help! I’m Confused or Offended!” points to Wikipedia’s write-up on satire.
Alas, quite a few visitors apparently miss these obvious clues and believe what they are reading.
But what of the (badly) photoshopped image used in the fake article? In fact, the image was taken from 2011 news reports discussing real mass bird deaths. It depicts a worker retrieving bird bodies after such an event. However, the original photograph shows only a few dead birds.
The one question left to ponder? What publication takes the title of “Arkansas’ MOST unreliable news source”?
Original Source : https://www.hoax-slayer.net/satire-18-million-birds-dead-new-years-eve/