The Betoota Advocate

The Betoota Advocate
Founder(s) Errol Parker and Clancy Overell
Founded 2014
Website www.betootaadvocate.com

The Betoota Advocate is a satirical Australian website. It was started in 2014 by Errol Parker (Editor-at-large) and Clancy Overell (Editor). It purports to be 'Australia's oldest newspaper' and to be published in the town of Betoota, Queensland, which is currently a ghost town.[1]

Controversies

Several Betoota Advocate articles have been mistaken for real news items by major Australian media outlets. In November 2014 Weekend Today reported as fact an Advocate article about a Sydney city parking ranger who accidentally booked himself.[2] In January 2015, Deadspin reported that the 2016 Olympics would have 3-on-3 Basketball, before realising that the source was a satire site.[3][4][5][6][7] In March 2015, 4BC also reported as fact an Advocate article about a 78-year-old man fighting off a home invasion, and interviewed Overell.[8]

In December 2014 the RSPCA Australia criticized the site for publishing an article announcing that it was trialling having veterinarians present at dog fights in Queensland without making it clear that the story was satire, as well as including made-up quotes from them in the article.[9] In October 2015 former Wallabies captain John Eales criticised the Advocate for an article attributing to him a quote attacking Australian-born fans of the All Blacks as 'worse than ISIS.'[10][11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About Us". The Betoota Advocate. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Paul Barry. "The Betoota Advocate takes on Today". Media Watch. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Update: NEVERMIND, The 2016 Olympics Won't Have 3-on-3 Basketball". Deadspin. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "The 9 Worst Fake News Sites". Gizmodo. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "Deadspin post on 3-on-3 basketball at 2016 Rio Olympics wrong, Kyle Wagner cites Betoota Advocate". Metro. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  6. ↑ "Deadspin Fooled by Fake News Site". AdWeek. 15 Jan 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  7. ↑ "What was fake on the Internet this week: new Olympic sports, Chipotle going pork-free, and Justin Bieber Photoshopping". Washington Post. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Paul Barry. "Tall tales claim a new scalp". Media Watch. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "RSPCA slammed for Betoota Advocate satirical article link to Queensland dog fights". Courier Mail. 24 December 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  10. ↑ Peter FitzSimons. "Rugby World Cup Final 2015: Do I produce the kiss of death?". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Andrew Dickson. "Rugby World Cup: Wallabies great John Eales slams online article with fake quotes". ABC News. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
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