When New Technology Goes Wrong

Photo: THE PALMETTO SCOOP

The advertisement, for WPMI-TV in Alabama, showed the station's anchors with their top weatherman alongside the latest headline and the words “Right now on Twitter”.

Unfortunately for the station, at one stage the top headline on Twitter read “Three accused of gang rape in Monroeville”, and the misleading juxtaposition was caught on camera by a passing motorist as he drove through Mobile, Alabama. The resulting photograph soon found its way on to a South Carolina blog, the Palmetto Scoop, and then on to social media site Mashable, before being sent around the internet in a series of emails and blog posts.

Now, according to various websites, two of the station's senior staff have been suspended, allegedly over the billboard incident. However, the station has yet to confirm this.