How to get noticed by the world's media: Pretend to be a psychic.....

A country house in rural Texas became the scene of a huge police investigation last night. The world's media was drawn to the scene. Soon, reputable news outlets were reporting a mass grave had been found. CNN and the BBC were alluding to dismembered bodies of children. Was this the unearthing of a new mass murderer?

Well, no.

The major news outlets were getting seriously ahead of themselves. There was no grave. There are no bodies. Instead, there was a tip-off from a psychic that there was a mass grave. Surely the world's respected media were not going to repeat the ramblings of a lunatic as fact? They wouldn't devote wall to wall coverage on their 24 hour news channels to it?

Well, yes. Yes, they did.

Going on no more than the report of a psychic, respected channels devoted their entire coverage to this story.  It turns out police found little more than some blood on a door and the stench of rotting meat.

Good journalism must be based on fact. Not on the ramblings of someone of questionable mental faculties.