Hazlegate

[webofevil]

Ronnie Hazlehurst did not co-write the song “Reach” by S Club 7. Someone, however, amended his Wikipedia entry mere weeks ago to say that he did. Whether they knew he was shortly to die is open to speculation but, intentionally or not, that otherwise pointless hoax has functioned as a barium meal highlighting other people’s lazy research:

The Hazlepedia Hall of Shame

Comments

[strictlytrue.livejournal.com]

What a strange, strange thing. I heard this turn up on Newsnight last night, and expressed some surprise, although it didn't seem beyond the realms of possibility. I always find these sort of hoaxes really baffling. Why make up something that's sort of plausible?

[lifesizemonkey.livejournal.com]

It appears to have been amended now.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I doubt they are getting him confused with Cathy Dennis, so perhaps he is a lookalike for Andrew Todd?

Worryingly, at work part of my job is encouraging staff to use the internet to research songwriters in order to pay them some royalties. I do warn them about wikipedia but usually the BBC have at least vague fact-checking going on.

According to my work database, "your search REACH + HAZLEHURST did not match any documents." So there.

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

> According to my work database, "your search REACH + HAZLEHURST did not match any documents." So there.

I'm glad to hear it, but News 24—desperate as ever, in the modern digitial media marketplace, to be the first to be wrong—certainly fell for it (http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7020000/newsid_7024200/7024240.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm&asb=1&news=1).

[lebeautemps.livejournal.com]

Oh dear.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I've told our meedja department about it now. It'll probably get consigned to the ever-hilarious quirkies box at the bottom of our weekly company mailout.

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

I like the wikipedia talk page where it's discussed if the fact should be restored now it's in all the papers.

[ex-humanfema327.livejournal.com]

Ha ha ha. Lazies. How did you find out about it?

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

Lazily: from someone else on a mailing list. Hi, Jonathan!

I watched the News 24 clip when it went out and had no reason to question the claim. To find out the following day that not only had the broadcasters I'd been watching been duped but the same apparently went for everyone else in the media was a little sobering.