Oliver announces measures against hoaxes in EFE after mistakenly publishing a helicopter crash and the death of Aramburu

In a letter published on the agency’s website, Oliver reports that he has already analyzed what happened with the press company’s management committee and convened this Tuesday afternoon an “extraordinary and urgent” meeting of the board of directors.

“I will give all the relevant explanations and We will discuss the steps you can take to prevent such failures from happening again.“, declares the president of the agency, who assures that EFE is a press company “supported by its credibility, acquired through decades of public service, professionalism and honesty”.

In this sense, he defends that the duty of the press agency is to “continue to offer the best public service” entrusted to it and to contribute with its team to “the cleanliness and credibility of the information ecosystemessential to democracy.

“In the current context, where A very tough battle is being waged between truthful information and disinformation.“, between the servers of the accurate account of the facts and the propagators of hoaxes and lies, the two mistakes we have made have profound effects and are devastating for those who trust us and for our team”, he admits.

Errors

The news lines of the EFE Agency broadcast this afternoon the false news of the death of the writer and professor Fernando Aramburu. Oliver says a misleading social media account “triggered an unforgivable error due to lack of verification.”

Likewise, his letter also highlights that the false information about Aramburu’s death was corrected and denied by the news agency. “just minutes after it was published.”

“As president of the EFE, I want above all apologize and ask for forgiveness from Fernando Aramburu“, who I just spoke with on the phone, his family, his close friends and his publisher, Tusquets,” Oliver says. He also apologizes “to the media, institutions, organizations and companies that matter and trust” the services. of the agency.

Aramburu’s death became the second false publication published by the EFE Agency in less than a week. Last Thursday he reported alleged helicopter crash into Madrid’s Crystal Tower which wasn’t true either. “Today as on this occasion, the veracity and rigor of the EFE have been greatly damaged by our own failures,” he admits.