Category Archives: Fake News

I regret to see that today Lewis Hamilton joined the camp of international fake news Lewis Hamilton receives criticism for supporting the LGBTQ+ people in Hungary.

Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel openly supported the LGBTQ+ communitys protest against the new law, which experts claim holds power to stigmatize the LGBTQ+ people in the country.

While Vettel dawned a pride t-shirt mask before the start of the race and wore the same theme mask on the podium, Hamilton, on his Instagram, went onto criticize the Hungarian government.

In response, a state leader Judit Varga, who holds the position of Justice Minister of Hungary on Sunday attacked Hamilton for his words against the recent move by the Hungarian government.

I regret to see that today Lewis Hamilton joined the camp of international fake news producers by attacking our child protection law. The protection of Hungarian children remains the task of Hungarian parents and not of foreign racing drivers, said Varga, according to HungarianFreePress.com.

I myself learned the rule of the road from textbooks and not by following the media. Let me recommend Lewis Hamilton to read the Hungarian Child Protection Act before saying nonsense. Let the cobbler stick to his last and F1 driver to his race.

Good luck with the Hungaroring race!

On Monday, Hamilton posted an Instagram story praising Vettel, in which he vowed to join his rival next time to show support for the LGBTQ+ struggles in Hungary but later deleted the story.

He re-posted the story with a different caption; the reason behind this move is unknown, but it seems like Hamilton wants to join Vettel in this movement, and we might witness a similar set of pre-race events in Spa at the end of this month.

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"I regret to see that today Lewis Hamilton joined the camp of international fake news" Hungary's Justice... - The Sportsrush

The frustrated viral newsreader - as created by Tom Walker - will bring his world politics to the Grand Theatre stage as part of critically acclaimed sell out 2019 live show 'Fake News.'

After months stuck in lockdown, Pie returns to the road and comes to the resort on September 30 to discuss how coronavirus has changed the world and his career prospects.

The show has been updated and re-written by Tom to include Pie's unmissable takes on the government's handling of COVID.

A spokesperson for the tour said: "Fake News (The Corona Remix) Tour will see Jonathan Pie returning to the road in a post-coronavirus world to berate the people in power - and the journalists apparently holding them to account.

"Black Lives Matter, the climate crisis, the NHS, austerity, social media, cancel culture and of course, now, COVID-19, nationwide lockdowns and the ensuing fallout Jonathan Pie has thrown aside any red lines on subject matter covered in this explosive show; a lecture-come-apology-tour, where we hear how Pies career took a serious nose-dive, after an unfortunate on-air gaffe made by the irate news reporter."

Tom first introduced the irate, fictitious British news reporter Jonathan Pie in September 2015. Described by Rory Bremner as the most important satirical creation since Partridge his videos regularly achieve millions of views, going internationally viral.

One of Pies earliest videos - his response to the election of Donald Trump - was viewed more than 150 million times worldwide.

A more recent clip on the confusion surrounding wearing masks has been viewed over 10.4m times on Facebook.

Tickets are on general sale now, with all tickets for the originally scheduled dates remaining valid.

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Jonathan Pie to bring "Fake News (The Corona Remix) Tour to Blackpool Grand Theatre in September - Blackpool Gazette

Opinion: The recent looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Joburg has resurrected the latent mistrust and ethnic divisions that are prevalent in South Africa.

What began as a protest against the incarceration of ex-president Jacob Zuma, accompanied by his and the EFFs war cry against white monopoly capitalism, rapidly descended into modern historys largest orgy of looting against organised business.

In a manner akin to a religious pilgrimage, thousands descended upon major chain stores and their storehouses to take what they could in as a casual a manner as people on pilgrimage. They went on foot or drove in with motor vehicles of a class that were unlikely to belong to the indigent that are likely to invoke sympathy by justifying theirs as a response to unending hunger.

Media reports and social media postings abounded with claims of involvement by chief executives, teachers and school principals, and children of rich business families.

While the Free Zuma Campaign was engaging in a redistribution of wealth from white-owned stores and storerooms, that allegedly exclude Africans from gainful employment, the mayhem spread with equal fierceness to African-owned businesses in African townships too. Alexandra, Soweto and Mamelodi in Joburg, Osizweni and Madadeni in Newcastle, and Ntuzuma and KwaMashu in Durban, among numerous other places, were no less victims of this exceedingly well orchestrated campaign of economic sabotage.

The State has identified 12 instigators as potential culprits, five of whom have been arrested at the time of writing this article. Like the culprits who stole furniture, bicycles and televisions under the pathetic claim of we are hungry, all of these five possible culprits so far have stated that they are not guilty or that their social media sites on their phones were hacked.

The absurdity of such claims have already been dismissed by IT specialists when people try to use hacking as an excuse to be pardoned. It is also a widely suspected but unspoken allegation (in public) that many looters in these townships were shot and killed by African business owners and homeowners.

In Phoenix, however, media reporting by the SABCs programme: Unfiltered, posted on YouTube, has harkened back to the dark days of apartheid, when clip, lie and manipulate by the apartheid captured Cliff Saunders was our only source of visual news.

We have analysed three interviews by the SABC with residents of Phoenix and compared it with what appeared as SABCs Unfiltered YouTube posting. The inconsistency and deliberate manipulation was too obvious to ignore. For instance, a woman interviewee from Phoenix told the interviewee, that Bheki Celes visit there was appreciated. He promised to send police and troops to replace the community checkpoints, but this did not happen troops and police were nowhere to be seen.

After two days police did arrive, but only to dismantle the checkpoints, not to replace community members there. Cliff Saunders, Unfiltered however left out the latter bit of the interview and claimed that troops and police were sent to Phoenix and continued with the conversation about how 20 Africans were allegedly killed in Phoenix. While no outright claim was made about the killings being carried out by the Phoenix residents, the blame on Indian residents was implicit.

SABC is trying to change the narrative about the extent of looting by mainly African citizens. And Julius Malema is threatening to send in EFF troops to deal with the Indians in Phoenix if the state does not do anything about the guilty. All of a sudden, the extent and cost of the looting by mainly African looters, as the cameras have captured, is no longer as important.

There is a simple question that must be asked of the SABC and Malema: If 20 Africans were really killed by Indians in Phoenix, how should the State proceed with finding out about how the remaining 200 odd that were killed by stampeding in supermarkets and their storehouses, as well as in the townships? And if 500 corpses are really in the Phoenix mortuary, can the Goebel incarnates of contemporary South Africa really prove that they died in Phoenix? Much of this gerrymandering is carried out under the cloud of free speech.

In order to understand how free speech and the media functions to keep people informed, we need to backtrack a little to appreciate its modern day genesis. A prominent advocate of free speech in the modern world was John Stuart Mill (1807 1873), an English philosopher, political economist and civil servant. In his book On Liberty, Mill argued that a free exchange of ideas is necessary for social and intellectual progress of the society.

His argument was compelling and approved by the English parliament: the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generations; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of exchanging error for truth; if wrong, they lose, what is almost as a great benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth produced by its collision with error.

Mills argument was that free speech elicits truth, fundamental for the well-being of all societies. At least four international bodies have adopted this an article of faith: UN Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares freedom of speech and expression as a human right; Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights; Article 13 of the American Convention of Human Rights; and Article 9 of African Charter on Human Rights and Peoples Rights.

However protective these may be, the truth in this historical juncture is being appropriated by media houses such as SABC in South Africa, and YouTube, WhatsApp, Twitter and Face Book at an international level.

Many journalists of the so-called left wing are encouraged by financial incentives to disseminate news in ways that resonate with narrative creations. Twitter in India, for instance, fell foul of recently introduced Indian laws when they refused to accept responsibility for carrying an article based on an outright lie. They defended it as free speech.

It was a fake story about an elderly Muslim man from Ghaziabad allegedly being beaten up Hindu males. The narrative added that he was forced into saying Jai Shree Ram. When counter checked, it was fake news because the assaulters were Muslim.

It is for such reasons that countries such as Nigeria, Singapore, Malaysia and India have placed foreign media sites under constant surveillance. Nigeria however has banned Twitter. It is in ownership of these kind of media channels that the new capitalistic entrepreneurs of the West are emanating.

They are playing an immensely supportive role in upholding the pillars of US hegemony in the global economy. Their actions have dispensed with Mills idea of bringing together people with divergent opinions to convergent consensus. This is nothing but censorship. Mills grand idea of what should serve as a guardian of democracy in open societies is thrown out of the window like the proverbial baby with the bath water.

SABCs Unfiltered programme is therefore nothing but filtered censorship that is taking us back to the apartheid past: clip, lie and manipulate.

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The media, freedom of expression and fake news - Independent Online

JJ Lin. (PHOTO: JPJ Productions)

Singaporean pop star JJ Lin has taken swift legal actions against netizens who claimed that he and Taiwanese singer Wilber Pan are involved in Kris Wus sex scandal allegedly involving rape and underage girls.

JJ Lin is represented by Shanghai Jiuze Law Firm, who posted a legal statement on Weibo on Sunday (1 August) refuting the defamatory claims. A total of 27 netizens from various platforms, including Weibo, Douban, Baidu Tieba and WeChat, have been named, along with their unique identifier, for falsely accusing JJ Lin and spreading rumours.

The lawyer's statement said these allegations had gravely impacted JJ Lins reputation, and in order to protect his legal rights, the law firm engaged by JJ Lins company JFJ Productions has requested netizens who are suspected of breaking JJ Lins reputation to immediately delete and stop spreading false information about JJ Lin, and stop all infringement acts. They will also monitor public opinions on the internet, continuously collect evidence of infringements, and hold these netizens fully accountable.

JFJ Productions also wrote on their Weibo, The internet is not without laws, and you have to be responsible for all your words and actions. We hope to create a civilised and healthy internet environment with everyone.

Singer Kris Wu at a Seeyoung promotional event on May 28, 2021 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Wilber Pans studio has engaged Beijing Zhongchan Law Firm, who posted a similar legal statement on Weibo on Monday (2 August), with 11 users across Weibo, Douban and other Internet platforms identified.

Among all the accusers, the one that stood out is 23-year-old Chinese actor-singer Xie Minghao. Through his studios Weibo account, which has now been banned from posting by Weibo, Xie had come out to name JJ Lin and Wilber Pan, saying that they had done drugs and raped young women with Kris Wu. He even urged the Chinese police to take actions against them.

However, Xie has been known for cooking up fake news, including faking invitations to a new year countdown event and a variety show, just to increase his popularity in China. His claims about JJ Lin and Wilber Pan were met with backlash from netizens:

Story continues

Theres nothing else to boost discussions about you, so youre tapping on this?

This person has been trying to generate topics about him for a long time.

Only you are able to put your life on the line (such a false claim is likely to put him behind bars) to stimulate discussions.

This is too funny. What kind of topic-boosting is this?

Let this be a reminder to verify facts as part of the Internet community so as to curb the creation and dissemination of fake news.

Get more TV and movie news from Yahoo Lifestyle on our Entertainment page.

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JJ Lin threatens legal action over online rumours linking him to Kris Wus sex scandal - Yahoo News

Faridabad authorities resumed the ongoing demolition drive in Khori village, which was suspended on Saturday, a day after Indian authorities replied to the United Nations Human Rights Council over a statement released by its six special rapporteurs that called for the drive to be halted.

Last month, the Supreme Court directed the Haryana government and the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad to remove all encroachments, consisting of around 10,000 residential units, in the Aravalli forest area, saying land grabbers cannot take refuge in the rule of law and talk of fairness.

On Friday, experts from the United Nations Human Rights Council called on India to halt the eviction of around 100,000 people, including 20,000 children, from Khori village in Faridabad, which began last Wednesday, and said it is particularly important that residents be kept safe during the pandemic.

In response, the Permanent Mission of India to the Office of the United Nations issued a statement on Saturday, saying, It is unfortunate that the special rapporteurs have chosen to issue a press release just two days after sending a joint communication to this Mission and not waiting for a response.

The police said that the demolition process remained peaceful. Around 2,000 personnel, including 500 women personnel, were deployed in Khori village on Sunday. The drive started around 10am and went on till 5pm, for which 17 earthmoving machines and five Poclain machines were used.

Garima Mittal, the commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad, said the demolition drive was recorded through drone cameras, with the date, time and location stamping on photos and videos done to ensure authenticity.

The deputy commissioner of Faridabad, Yashpal Yadav, said, We have started full-scale demolition and we are implementing the Supreme Court orders in letter and spirit. All structures will be demolished as per the orders and not just those that have been vacated. The drive is being conducted peacefully and we have not faced any challenge so far, except people not cooperating.

Meanwhile, social activists and residents alleged that situation has worsened in Khori village and that there has been no let-up in the demolitions even after the United Nations experts raised urged an immediate halt.

On Sunday, demolitions started from the Durga temple side, and the number of police deployed there is much higher than what we had seen until now. They have encircled Khori Gaon from all sides and are restricting movement in and out. Volunteers and residents from Khori who have been distributing food are now stuck in this police blockade. They are not being allowed to leave, said Neelesh Kumar, a social activist with Basti Suraksha Manch.

Rehabilitation

With the demolition drive entering the fourth day on Sunday, over 470 people have registered for the rehabilitation scheme, officials of the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad said on Sunday. The administration has arranged a temporary shelter for displaced residents of Khori village at Radha Swami Satsang Beas, near Surajkund.

However, members of Mazdoor Awaas Sangharsh Samiti, an organisation working for the rehabilitation of residents of Khori village said that residents are not willing to stay at the temporary shelter.

Mohammad Salim Khan, a member of Mazdoor Awas Sangharsh Samiti, whose house was demolished on Friday, said, Of the thousands of houses demolished so far, not even 5% of the people have been given temporary shelter. People are being forced to go to the shelter home, whereas we want to collect our belongings from the debris. Even the registration for rehabilitation is being conducted without any ground survey.

The MCF on Sunday asked residents to collect their belongings from the demolished houses in Khori.

Man booked for spreading false news

The police booked a Khori resident on Saturday for spreading fake news about residents committing suicide. The suspect, identified as Mohammad Abrar, was booked under Section 505 (2) (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code by the Surajkund police.

The police said that Abrar concocted a story about a Khori resident killing her two daughters and committing suicide after their house was demolished, and posted it on social media platforms.

OP Singh, the commissioner of police, warned residents against spreading fake news that may disturb the peace. A probe in the matter is underway and an Investigating Officer (IO) has been appointed. We are investigating and action will be taken against everyone in accordance with the rules, he said.

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Khori resident booked for spreading fake news as drive restarts on Sunday - Hindustan Times

Each week the Associated Press publishes Not Real News: A Look at What Didnt Happen Last Week. It is a collection of fake news, most of which has been shared online. The stories usually include quotes taken out of context, photoshopped images and doctored audio.

These are the stories that appear on your news feed courtesy of friends and relatives who believe journalists are enemies of the people. It gives them a chance to share outlandish misinformation that reflects their extreme views.

Recent fakes include this one: President Biden wants to swoop down with Special Forces and gather up every gun in America, and then give out guns to people who get vaccinated for COVID-19.

Heres another internet lie: Airlines are banning vaccinated passengers.

There was also video of Pope Francis speaking in Italian, with fake English subtitles making it appear as though he said, I have a secret agenda to deceive people and unite them under one world religion in order to control them better.

And a 1987 New York Post front page was doctored to show Dr. Anthony Fauci under the headline, THE MAN WHO GAVE US AIDS. (The actual story was about a different person and did not mention Fauci, nor did it include his photo.)

Quite candidly, the most shocking part is that many people believe this stuff.

These fake stories were shared hundreds of thousands of times. The number of people who saw the fakes is likely far greater than those who read the APs weekly attempt to set the record straight.

Although propaganda is nothing new, the internet has propelled fake news to a new level. These people are experts at distorting images and video so that you will believe that red is blue.

Once the fake toothpaste is out of the tube, theres no putting it back. Many people, out of willful ignorance, will happily spread this garbage. They make no effort to check the facts. They are rightfully worried that a few seconds of research might reveal the truth. When they are confronted by anyone who corrects them, they feign innocence.

Oh, I didnt know. I saw it on Facebook, and assumed it was accurate.

I first realized how dangerous these manipulators are while speaking to a college freshman journalism class in 2016. A student asked why my channel wasnt reporting a sensational claim about a presidential candidate that he had seen on ABC News. I asked him to show me on his computer. It was a bizarre story that obviously had no basis in fact. But the website featuring an ABC logo looked almost like the real thing. Upon closer inspection however, it was not the American Broadcasting Company. It was the Associated Broadcast Cooperative or some such nonsense. How is an 18-year-old to know the difference?

Imagine if such deception was widespread during World War II. What if propagandists had such dangerous tools during the Cold War? Our nation was divided enough during the 1960s, with assassinations, protests and riots. Its frightening to think what Americas enemies could have done with the ability to convince half the nation to turn against our government.

I recently argued with folks on Facebook who are convinced reporters are destroying our nation by covering both sides of todays political arguments. (The other side) is obviously lying, they said. Why dont reporters just call them out or ban them on the spot?

As tempting as that might be for some, I dont think thats the cure for a fractured nation. Both sides must be heard.

By continuing to flood us with a fire hose of misinformation, the fake news factories are creating damage that will take a long time to repair. We have gone from I cannot tell a lie to alternative facts and what youre seeing is not happening.

The truth is out there, and it is presented daily by the vast majority of journalists. If a segment of the public chooses not to believe it, no one can force them to do so.

I can only hope that my children and grandchildren can someday enjoy the America I once did. Thats when certified election results were treated as such. Its when we knew the words that came out of our leaders mouths were indeed their own. We knew that the news we saw in print, or that we saw and heard with our own eyes and ears, was unbiased and genuine.

I would suggest that high schools add a new class to their list of required subjects. In addition to reading, writing, science and math, we need a course on Media Literacy: Separating Fact from Fiction. Its apparently too late for some adults, but maybe we can educate the kids before they fall victim to the fake news epidemic.

David Carroll is a TV news anchor and radio host based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is online at ChattanoogaRadioTV.com. You may contact him at 900 Whitehall Road, Chattanooga, TN 37405, or at RadioTV2020@yahoo.com.

Originally posted here:

Fighting the fake news is fundamental | Editorial | tullahomanews.com - Tullahoma News and Guardian

No, Liz, its not that.Image: AP

It would be nice if Liz Cambage didnt try to refute reports that she broke COVID protocols with the term fake news, but the Australian star sure did defend herself after her withdrawal from the Olympic team during its Las Vegas training camp, for which she cited mental health.

Ive been trapped in this room, with no view, with nothing for a week, Cambage said Friday, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Of course Im gonna lose my mind in here, you serious, Im seeing reports that I went out partying. Shit, I wish I did. I know some of the people in Vegas have been having a really good time this week but Ive been in here, bro. Ive been in here. The only time I left this goddamn bubble was for the All-Star Game. I dont appreciate the lies.

Despite having made a deal with Australia coach Sandy Brondello that she could leave the Australian camp to join Team WNBA against Team USA if she didnt overexert herself, Cambage did not play in the game. Instead, she was seen eating popcorn and having a good time, which, cool. She managed her minutes, as agreed.

Cambage further explained that shes had breakdowns in the Whole Foods parking lot and non-stop panic attacks about the Olympic bubble.

G/O Media may get a commission

The main reason I sat out of the WNBA bubble last season was my mental health, Cambage said. Like, Im not OK in a bubble. Im not OK playing in front of no fans, mentally Im escapist, if I have no escape from a situation it gives me anxiety and I panic and there is definitely no escape in Tokyo except for leaving. I would not want to do that to the team.

Cambages openness and honesty about her struggle is refreshing, and a perfect way to hit back at dingdongs like Andrew Bogut making it out like she was faking it for sympathy even if its still true that there was an incident in the Aussies scrimmage against Nigeria, and possibly that an anxiety-riddled Cambage is difficult to have as a teammate, and the controversial altercation a result of all those emotions boiling over.

Well never know the whole truth, and thats fine. Cambage is doing whats best for her, and the Australian team has moved on, too, beating Team USA on Friday in an Olympic tune-up game, 70-67.

Anytime youre on a list where its just you, Joe DiMaggio, and Brooks Robinson, youre probably doing something right.

Jake Cronenworth did something right, in an incredibly odd and specific way. Baseballs ability to have that is neat.

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Really? The old 'fake news' gambit? - Deadspin

Donald Trump walks with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and others to visit St Johns Church on June 1, 2020, in Washington, DC. (AFP via Getty Images)

Former president Donald Trump decried a news report saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized an operation to put Trump into office as disgusting and fiction.

Mr Trumps remarks come after a report in the Guardian of leaked Kremlin documents that said on 22 January 2016, Mr Putin, his spy chiefs and senior ministers agreed that a Trump administration was in Russias strategic interests such as causing social turmoil and weakening the presidents negotiating position.

The report said a decree signed by Putin ordered that Russias three spy agencies find practical ways to support Trump, by then the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.

This is disgusting. Its fake news, just like RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA was fake news, Mr Trump said through a statement via his spokeswoman Liz Harrington on Twitter. The former president added that the allegation was just the Radical Left crazies demeaning the right.

Its fiction, and nobody was tougher on Russia than me, including on the pipeline, and sanctions, Mr Trump, who is banned from Twitter, said. At the same time we got along with Russia. Russia respected us, China respected us, Iran respected us, North Korea respected us.

But despite Mr Trumps objections, the Guardian showed the papers to independent experts who said they appeared genuine.

The Russia report called No 32-04 vd was classified as secret and called Trump the most promising candidate from Russias point of view and described Mr Trump as impulsive, mentally unstable and unbalanced individual who suffers from an inferiority complex.

The Kremlin also seemed to confirm that it had kompromat, or compromising material on Mr Trump from his non-official visits to Russian Federation territory.

Read More

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Trump calls report of Kremlin plot to put him in office disgusting and fake news - Yahoo News

With the slow reopening of international travel, most of the larger online booking platforms, led by Booking.com and Expedia, have finally decided to turn their billion-dollars marketing power engine back on. This thunderous comeback ought to put Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) back in the spotlight after a long, pandemic-induced, slumber. For the better but also for the worse.

Indeed, OTAs have been the subject of heated debates ever since their sector-wide adoption in the early 2010s. While some hotels see OTAs as a saving grace, praising the increased exposure and additional bookings, others consider them to be more of a necessary evil, with concerns being raised regarding the high commission rates and sometimes dubious customer acquisition practices. Although this age-old argument is far from being settled, the issue is worth revisiting in light of the new post-COVID-19 travel market trends.

In the past few months, multiple articles and studies have come out covering this subject often from a rather subjective standpoint, to put it mildly. These papers, sometimes directly backed by OTAs, have been spreading relatively debatable content (if not straight-up misinformation). In this article, we will cover and effectively debunk four misguided statements regarding the state of OTAs in a post-COVID-19 travel market, from their cost to their place in hotels channel mix, and more.

Pre-coronavirus, it looked like nothing would be able to put an end to OTAs growing hegemony over the online travel market. Even though some hotels tried hopping on the Return to Direct train that emerged to win back some of OTAs market shares, the sheer power of Booking.com and Expedias marketing strategies was proving hard to compete with. Only an event of unprecedented magnitude could turn around what appeared to be an unstoppable tide. Enter COVID-19.

The outbreak fundamentally altered the relative balance of the online travel market. With OTAs cutting back their marketing budget, hotels had the chance to climb their way back up travel-related search engine queries. Moreover, Google recently changed their advertising features for hotels, allowing for a free listing on their travel platform as well as better chances to compete with big spenders through an improved algorithm. Finally, as lockdowns forced many people to travel within their own countrys borders, reliance on large booking platforms decreased while direct bookings surged. This trend is highlighted in the graph below from a recent D-Edge study.

All these elements combined put these once all-powerful actors in a position of relative weakness. Concurrently, several articles(OTA market share likely to increase due to coronavirus pandemic)went out of their way to show that the position of OTAs has remained very much unchanged and might fare even better than before the pandemic. For example, this study(Study reveals the increasing importance of OTA Travelers in Economic Recovery), unsurprisingly backed by Expedia Group, claims that hotels will become increasingly reliant on OTAs in a post-COVID-19 world. However, the abstract discloses that most of the surveyed travelers were interviewed prior to the pandemic (late 2019, to early 2020). Moreover, the same researchers boldly assert that travelers are 57 percent more likely to book a hotel via an OTA than before the pandemic mostly because leisure travel will be a big part of the recovery process. Although, as we saw when crunching the numbers for both OTAs and direct booking channels, reality tells a very different story.

Another study(Working with OTAs: The Indirect Distribution Dilemma) that recently gained a lot of traction analyzed the importance of relying on OTAs, especially Booking.com, to generate revenue. The main claim was that the volume of bookings generated by OTAs outweighed the cost of the commission. However, there are several apparent issues with this research.

In addition to being focused solely on pre-pandemic Belgian independent hotels, the study only accounted for the monetary cost of working with OTAs and failed to analyze incidental consequences. As hotels have grown to learn, the price of signing a contract with an OTA goes way beyond the commission and comes with a sway of hidden costs that indirectly weigh on hotels bottom line. Below is a non-exhaustive list:

We can also highlight the inherent bias related to the way the study is set up. Indeed, By 2020, most hotels with the budget and resources to have their own digital strategy are already present on Booking.com. This means that the only hotels left to compare are most likely very small hotels that mostly depend on local customers and very regional or sporadic tourism. What would be more interesting would be to compare the profits margins of the different channels of sale, accounting for all costs. (including the cost and risk management of free cancellations)

To be clear, the main takeaway from this list is not that hotels should stop working with OTAs altogether. In fact, most hotels would still benefit from the increased exposure and extra bookings that these platforms can offer. The objective of this argument was to shed light on the reverse side of the coin which is often left behind when analyzing the pros and cons of hotels partnerships with OTAs.

Another point that is often raised to promote OTAs over direct bookings is that advocating for the former is actually pricier than simply relying on OTAs' advertising power. For example, in this short article(Direct is Not Always Best Hotel OTA Commissions in Comparison to the Benefits They Provide), the author claims that marketing costs to drive direct bookings can be as high as 15% of the value of the sale, which is not much lower than OTAs commissions when accounting for the time and resources needed to run such campaigns.

Surely if this were true, there would be exactly 0 need for hotels to invest in any kind of digital marketing-related campaigns. However, the numbers reported in the aforementioned article are very much on the higher end of what hotels should aim for in terms of acquisition cost. Other studies put the numbers more around 30/40 cents per click and the cost of acquisition closer to 5%. Furthermore, even if one agrees on the 15% marketing cost, generating direct bookings would still be much more valuable than third-party bookings as it will allow the hotel to grow its customer base and eventually build customer loyalty. Besides, it is worth reminding that the cost of retention is almost 10x lower than the cost of acquisition of a new guest.

In light of this, one might ask why many hotels are still relying so heavily on OTAs to generate bookings. Probably either because of a lack of time, skills, or all of the above. Although it is almost assuredly not because it is too expensive. As Cory Chambers, VP and chief revenue officer at Hospitality Ventures Management Group puts it: relying heavily on OTAs is the lazy persons way out of it. [] I just look at the OTA expense, and thats putting a lot of money out there that you could be realizing if you did your own direct sales effort.

A common pattern that we have been observing in all of the aforementioned studies is that they are trying hard to paint OTAs in a good light; as hotels best friends, doing everything to support them in a time of need. In reality, notably because of the pandemic, OTAs made some radical changes to their platform, often detrimental to hotels.

Mirai released a piece(What Booking.com was doing to gain market shares while we were all in lockdown) covering the latest changes Booking.com made to their platform post-COVID-19. Below is a summary of the new features the platform is implementing and what they mean for hotels:

Recognizing the threat direct bookings have become during the COVID-19 outbreak, Booking is actively trying to get an edge over hotels' direct acquisition strategies through these new "features". The main takeaway here is that hotels should not take everything OTAs is pushing as genuinely helpful advice. For example, notice the language used in the image below clearly promoting the sharing of your genius rates and setting it by default on hotels profiles. Booking.com and the likes are primarily looking after their clients and bottom line, everything else, including hotels, comes as an afterthought. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for any new changes implemented by OTAs and always defend your interests tooth and nail.

By drastically disrupting the state of the online travel market, the COVID-19 outbreak has given hotels a unique opportunity to take back control over their acquisition channels. With OTAs grasp over the industry weakened, direct bookings are slowly but surely climbing up hotels' distribution mix. However, OTAs have recently come back out of the woods seeking to reclaim these lost market shares, with little to no concern for hotels interests.

While OTAs will remain an important acquisition channel going forward, hoteliers should strive to keep up the momentum and continue to grow their direct bookings. Even though this might prove harder than simply listing a property on OTAs and waiting for bookings to come in, the reward will be worth it both in terms of revenue and freedom of action.

Moreover, you are not alone in the fight for a return to direct bookings. Multiple online solutions, ranging from widgets to upselling tools and personalized pricing systems can help increase conversion and convert the user traffic coming from OTAs. By complementing this technology portfolio with a solid digital marketing strategy, hotels will be more than ready to stand tall next to these giants of online distribution.

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4 Fake News about the State of OTAs post-COVID-19 | By Matthieu Mauguin Hospitality Net - Hospitality Net

PETALING JAYA: In August last year, a message circulated on social media saying that the infrared thermometers being widely used to scan people when entering premises were causing brain injuries.

More recently, in May this year, a two-minute and 48-second audio clip surfaced, containing a claim by an unidentified person who warned that Covid-19 vaccines were poisonous and had led to the deaths of 40 nurses who took their shots.

These are just two examples from among 550 widely shared fake news items about Covid-19 that the authorities have had to tackle since the start of the pandemic last year, according to an analysis by The Star.

We looked at the number of items and types of false or misleading information singled out and debunked or clarified on fact-checking portal Sebenarnya.my, as well as on the Health Ministrys social media platforms

The Stars analysis covered an 18-month period from January last year to June this year.

Of the 550 items singled out by the authorities, 70% (405) surfaced between January and June last year.

This year, the number of Covid-19 fake news items tackled by the authorities fell by 82% to 72 from January to June.

Amid the fall comes a change in the type of misinformation being circulated.

The bulk of fake news in the first half of last year contained claims about the spread of Covid-19 cases at certain locations or on the enforcement of standard operating procedures (SOPs) or the various types of movement control order.

This was during the period when the outbreak first hit the country and the first MCO was imposed from March 18 to June 7, 2020.

This year, much of the fake news being spread on WhatsApp and social media has zeroed in on Covid-19 vaccines.

These include some outlandish claims for example, that eating durian shortly before or after getting vaccinated will cause death.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the developer of Sebenarnya.my, said the portal was built as a single reference point for the public to verify news that has a socioeconomic impact and affects security of the country.

Launched in March 2017, the portal gathers information regarding fake news or information through public tip-offs and collaboration with other ministries.

From its inception up to May 31, 2021, the Sebenarnya.my portal has received a total of 13, 690 tip-offs.

Of the total, 4, 993 (36.5%) were on issues related to Covid-19.

RELATED > True or Not: Fighting the fake news free-for-all

The MCMC said the portal focuses on news topics or issues that affect public or national interests.

The authenticity of the news can be verified or have been verified by official channels or government agencies, based on their role, jurisdiction, and subject matter expertise.

Sebenarnya.my does not cover matters relating to individuals. Its scope is to ensure that government policies impacted by fake news has a quick response by the respective agencies and collated under a single reference platform for the public, it said.

MCMC added that the public can channel any suspicious or unverified news to be verified through the portals SALURKAN KEPADA KAMI (Channel to Us) section (https://sebenarnya.my/salur/).

From the tip-offs, our team will then forward and refer the unverified news to the respective agencies to verify its accuracy, and for them to provide a rebuttal should the news are verified as false news, it said.

The MCMC also said the various ministries had a structured collaboration and were proactive in detecting and monitoring the spread of viral fake news or information involving matters within their scope and functions.

They will issue official statements explaining or refuting any false or misleading news involving their respective agencies and ministries. In turn, the statements are then uploaded onto Sebenarnya.my, it said.

Read more from the original source:

INTERACTIVE: How fake news about Covid-19 has shifted, and what to look out for - The Star Online