BBC World television said on Friday it was investigating how it had been duped into running an interview on the aftermath of the 1984 Bhopal disaster with a hoaxer claiming to be a spokesman for Dow Chemical.
During the interview, a man purporting to work for Dow Chemical claimed the company would take responsibility for the Bhopal tragedy and was setting up a $12bn compensation fund for victims. The interview ran twice on BBC World and was retracted later in the day by the news organisation.
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A person familiar with how the Bhopal interview was prepared by the BBC said a London-based researcher had contacted the fake Dow employee - who called himself Jude Finesterra - after finding his name and number on a puported Dow website that had been either hacked or “mirrored”.
I think I actually heard that interview. I thought the guy sounded much more lucid that the standard corporate flack.
I guess this means that it’s becoming well known what an open door the BBC has for fakes and charlatans as long as they peddle the right anti-American view.