YANG NORWICH CITY FAKE LEAVES THE S*N RED-FACED
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
I’ve spoken on The ACSOM Blog numerous times already about the dangers of the “fast food approach” most of Scottish football’s mainstream press corps take to news-gathering these days.
However, while I was asleep here in Japan, back in Scotland you were all served up a timely remind of the importance of proper journalistic practice.
Badly Doctored AI Image Compounds Yang Norwich City Transfer Rumors, Humiliates The S*n
For a few days now there have been various reports linking Celtic Winger Yang Hyun Jun with a move to Norwich City. I haven’t written about them until now, because, in all honesty, all I saw was the same report, citing the same source, reproduced dozens of times across various sites, without adding anything substantially new to the story.
Unlike the Daily Record and The S*n I’m not in the habit of taking other people’s work, and tweaking it to look like an original piece of journalism, so I opted against giving this Yang Norwich City rumor any more oxygen.
However, last night’s embarrassing episode, which saw a badly doctored AI enhanced image of Celtic’s Korean winger in a Norwich City shirt circulated on Twitter had compelled me to respond.
This kind of nonsense is only going to increase as the summer wears on, and it’s vital we all take the time to check these things before believing them.
The S*n, who deleted their article on the subject almost as quickly as they rushed to post it on their site, didn’t heed this advice. Such advice is usually given out on day one of journalism school. Don’t run a story unless your sources are water-tight.
Not only did The S*n not follow this, but in their eagerness to try and pass the story off as their own “exclusive” they added embellishments that clearly, in hindsight, were just made up.
Here’s what The S*n said in their, now-deleted,article:
“Celtic continue to make room for squad improvements this summer with Yang the latest fringe man poised to leave the club.
“The South Korean winger has been pictured wearing a Norwich City strip this evening and Sunsport understands an initial loan deal to the East Anglian side is set to go through immediately.”
So, based on the fact that the entire story hinges on a photo now proven to be fake, I think we can assume that last bit about “an initial loan deal going through immediately” is just a straight up lie.
The S*n are welcome to correct me at any time if they can present any genuine evidence that proves my assertion that they made up this story to be incorrect.
I won’t hold my breath on that one...
Oh by the way, even without running AI checks, etc., there's one simple thing that could have saved The S*n a whole lot of embarrassment here: a clock.
The time the image was posted, allegedly moments after it was taken, was mid-afternoon GMT. In other words, it was still daylight in Norwich!
Thankfully, our friends over in Korea still believe in practicing actual journalism. Within a few hours of the image initially appearing online, via the Korean football gossip account @KNTFootball, Seoul-based Daily newspaper JoongAng Daily (a Korean affiliate of the New York Times), confirmed via their own social media sources that the image that formed the basis of the story was, indeed, faked using AI.
To their credit, @KNTFootball acknowledged their mistake and issued an English language apology for their initial post.
The account’s owner Joel Kim said the following earlier today: “Hey guys, my sincere apologies over the Yang photo. After some further research I take complete responsibility over sharing the photo.
“Was so eager, excited & it seemed so real. I defo need to be better about sources. I pride my account in being reliable/trustworthy, really missed the mark here, I promise to be/do better next time.”
We all make mistakes, and fair play to Mr Kim for taking this one on the chin and accepting his error. He will, I believe, become a better journalist as a result.
Meanwhile, at the time of writing, we are still waiting for The S*n to even acknowledge their mistake, let alone issue an apology over this debacle.
Don’t buy The S*n.