You can’t get anything past observant social media users, as the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) was quick to learn Monday night, according to NBC News.
Along the East Coast of the United States, the Fourth of July was cloudy, rainy and for the most part, dismal, says the Washington Post. Many picnics and fireworks displays were cancelled because of the weather, but in Washington D.C., it was decided that the Independence Day concert and fireworks would go on as planned, even though it was foggy and overcast.
The free broadcast aired by PBS was difficult to see clearly because of the weather. So PBS did its patriotic duty by injecting some stock footage of previous fireworks displays in between live shots of the real show. It was hard to miss the clear skies over the Capital building, with no scaffolding visible.
We showed a combination of the best fireworks from this year and previous years. It was the patriotic thing to do. #July4thPBS
— A Capitol Fourth (@July4thPBS) July 5, 2016
Several hundred viewers were quick to use Facebook and Twitter, calling out PBS for their “fraudulent” scheme, pointing out there was no disclaimer during the live broadcast that explained why stock footage was being used. PBS later apologised, tweeting, “We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.”
Indian couple accused of altering photographs
Nepal’s Department of Tourism chief says authorities are reviewing the claim by an Indian couple, Dinesh Rathod and his wife Tarakeshwari, that they reached the summit of Mt. Everest on May 23.
The couple are police officers from Pune in the Indian state of Maharashtra, and they also lay claim to being the first couple from India to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, according to the Daily Mail. They had to present a photograph of the accomplishment to Nepal’s government in order to get a coveted “climbers certificate.”
There is a certain amount of prestige that goes along with conquering Mt. Everest, and the couple played on that, holding a press conference on June 5 to proclaim their victory over the mountain. They should have kept their accolades to themselves.
Another climber, Satyarup Siddhanta, who lives in Bangalore, India, posted a message on his Facebook page alleging that pictures of him at the summit of Everest had been ‘stolen’ and subsequently altered by the Rathods.
He wrote: “This is so so so amazing!!!!!!!! They took my pics and Photoshopped their image of the summit… And got certificates too… Where is mountaineering going????? Shame on you officers from Pune!” And if one were to look closely at the two photos, side-by-side, it is very obvious the couple photoshopped the original photo.
