The latest issue of The Walkley, the Media Alliance magazine, contains an interview with the Channel 10 Entertainment reporter Angela Bishop*.   I’d like to share the following part of the interview with you:

Beware of rumours reported as fact.

Entertainment journalism (not an oxymoron) is particularly susceptible to an internet rumour suddenly being reported around the world as fact. This is thanks to the number of entertainment reporters who have sprung up whose sole source of information is the internet. Checking facts with a reliable source still applies. (underlining mine)

This applies not only to entertainment reporters, but equally to hobby historians like most of our branch members.  Add novels to the internet and the situation is very familiar!

* The Walkley Magazine, Issue 66, May – June 2011, p 54.  For more information on The Walkley, go to http://www.walkleys.com/home