A statistic with no denominator
A claim that crime doubled was everywhere this week. Wanjiru explains why a number without a base means nothing, finds the original report and shows what it really said.
The flood photo that was from a different country
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Show notes
Checking a viral flood photo
A single photograph, shared tens of thousands of times with a local caption, turned out to be eight years old and from another continent. Wanjiru and Kevin retrace the check step by step so you can do it yourself.
- Why dramatic weather photos are the most recycled images online
- Running a reverse image search on a phone in under two minutes
- Reading the clues inside the frame: signage, vehicles, vegetation
- What to say to the relative who forwarded it
- This week's habit: look for the original before the caption
Links in the notes to three free reverse image tools.
Transcript
Hello, welcome to Who Told You That. I am Wanjiru Maina, and with me as always is Kevin, who has promised to ask the questions you would ask. This week, a photograph. You have probably seen it: a road turned into a river, a bus half under water, and a caption naming a town not far from here. It went around every family group chat I am in by Tuesday lunchtime. It is a real photo. It is also eight years old and from a different continent. Today I am going to show you exactly how I found that out, using only my phone, in less time than it takes to make tea. And then we will talk about what to say to the uncle who sent it, because that is the hard part. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
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