The Inquirer posted photos of the aftermath of the Marawi attack around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 24. On thesame day, the broadsheet released an apology saying that although the photos came from a reliable source, they were proven to be fake.
The Marawi attack that started on Tuesday, May 23, caused panic among people in Marawi City and the country. It caused quite a stir on social media as well when actress and singer Leah Navarro posted a comment about the absence of President Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte declared Martial Law and had to cut short his trip in Russia to attend to the issue. Meanwhile, media outfits have been giving non stop updates on events happening in Marawi City.
The Inquirer’s apology for fake photos, Twitterverse responds
At around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 24, the Inquirer posted a public apology for posting fake photos which came with an update on the aftermath of the Marawi City attack. The caption of these photos read, “In Photos: Situation in Marawi after members of the Maute group attacked the city. Contributor.” The photos seen below show cars and some buildings that were on fire on the streets of Marawi City.
The post explains how Inquirer.net got their hands on these five photos seen below and how it reached their online page for everyone to see. Apparently, the photos came from a government official in the city who they called a reliable source.
It read, “Before we could complete the verification process (including having another reporter call the source and doing a reverse-image search), we posted all five photos.”
The Inquirer team then double checked with the source until eventually even the source couldn’t verify the reliability of the photos, all five photos were removed. The Inquirer said, “That was a mistake, and we apologize unreservedly.” They added how they regret having not apologized earlier.
Further review on procedures and sanctions will be done as the Inquirer assured the public but netizens on Twitter and Facebook couldn’t help but comment on the issue.