December 03, 2004

Dow deception

The BBC has given extensive coverage to the twentieth anniversary of the Bhopal disaster. The coverage included a BBC World broadcast this morning in which a representative of Dow Chemicals revealed that the company has now accepted responsibility for the disaster.

Unfortunately for the BBC, the story is false and BBC World is now claiming that it was the victim of an "elaborate deception".

We're not told how "elaborate" the deception was but, reading between the lines, it's tempting to conclude that this is just another example of sloppy journalism at the BBC.

Update
This Times article has more details, including the identity of the hoaxer.