So what’s wrong with this timeline of events?
20 September 2007: Someone at the IP address 90.202.68.194 anonymously edits the Wikipedia page for TV theme composer Ronnie Hazlehurst to add the entirely untrue claim that he co-wrote Reach for S Club 7.
2 October 2007: Hazlehurst dies.
2 October 2007: Lazy journalists everywhere (including BBC News 24, the Times, the Guardian, the Indie…) use Wikipedia entry to write his obit.
3 October 2007: Other people repeatedly attempt to add the “fact” that he co-wrote Reach by S Club 7 back to his Wikipedia entry, citing the obituaries in “reputable” newspapers as the reference.
[Reach was written by Cathy Dennis and Andrew Todd.]
Matt,
Great spot – when I read his biog I was AMAZED to read the reach link. I would have lead with than and not soem sitcome nonsence..
R
I didn’t really spot it myself–it was on The Register–but I thought it worth repeating.
Well, you scooped Private Eye good and proper (or rather el Reg did). Still I suppose they are able to release stories more than once a fortnight…