It’s very easy to create fake news. We’d rather keep it real…
The American reporter who was featured on the national Dutch news in stories about ice skating in the Netherlands appears to be a textbook example of fake news: it was a Boom Chicago actress collaborating with 1Camera. With this playful stunt we wanted to show how easy it is to create fake news.
For 1Camera the commotion about statements from NBC reporter Katie Couric during the Olympic Games about Dutch people and ice skating was a good reason for the playful stunt. The production quickly got a deeper layer when the NOS saw our American “reporter” and asked for an interview on the spot. Our film crew indicated that they were present on behalf of CNBS, and that the reporter came from Seattle. Without any fact-check this information was spread by NOS and other media: websites, social media and even in the eight O’clock news.
Paul Keur, Partner at 1Camera says: “Fake news and new media have always intrigued us, and are now more relevant than ever. People consume media faster – especially on social media – which is why we decided to go on the frozen canals and to this. And the results speak for themselves: sensation and being the first seems more important at the moment than anything else.”
Concept, creation and production: 1Camera
Director: Danyael Sugawara
Producer: Carl Setterdahl
Actress: Else Soelling
Sound: Peter Suyderhoud
Camera: Julian Felix
