A Facebook page hit ABS-CBN for using the wrong thumbnail for a report warning about lone wolf attacks after the government troops’ victory in Marawi City.
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In a Facebook post on November 7, Facebook page “Dumaguete Awareness” pointed out the use of a photo of an anti-terror simulation exercises for the Marawi-related report.
“Another one of the photos from Dumaguete Simex Security excersise (sic) being used with different caption,” the page said.
Pro-Duterte Facebook user Krizette Laureta Chu shared the page’s post, emphasizing on the idea that “everybody makes mistakes.
“If Mocha committed the same mistake, I bet the Yellow Brigade would be up in arms and trash talking social media,” Chu wrote. “See, everybody makes mistakes.”
Uson shared Chu’s post on her page, Mocha Uson Blog, while asking what Anthony Taberna, an ABS-CBN broadcast journalists and radio commentator, has to say about this mistake by his news station.
“Totoo ba ito? ABS-CBN News baka gusto niyo po sumagot? Kung tayo po ito mga 3 article na ng Rappler at Inquirer ang siguradong naisulat. At Ka Tunying ano masasabi mo sa kapalpakan na ito? Pag tayo nag kamali tindi mo bumatikos pero pag kasamaham mo kaya ang sablay?” Uson wrote.
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But when we checked ABS-CBN’s Facebook post of the same story, “DND warns against ‘lone wolf’ attacks after Marawi victory,” the thumbnail is already a different one.
ABS-CBN’s caption for the story remains the same: “The army remained on high alert after President Duterte said five cities in Mindanao were potential targets of Islamist militants after their defeat in Marawi.”
However, with the new thumbnail came an editor’s note expressing regret over the use of the old photo that may have caused confusion.
“EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this post used a photo of the anti-terror drill by the Task Force Leon Kilat in Dumaguete. We recognize that may have caused confusion, and we regret that. The thumbnail photo has been replaced to show a soldier fighting in Marawi City,” ABS-CBN wrote.
Despite replacing the old thumbnail, earlier shares of the same news report from ABS-CBN still showed the photo of the anti-terror drill.
The original thumbnail was actually used in an older ABS-CBN report, “Negros Or. task force conduct anti-terror drills,” published in July 2017.
The November 3 report from ABS-CBN was about the Department of National Defense’s concern over lone wolf attacks a week after the Philippine government declared victory over the Maute terror groups in Marawi.
“One concern after Marawi is the possibility of threats from lone wolves,” DND spokesman Arsenio Andolong told reporters.
Uson’s reaction to ABS-CBN’s use of an unrelated photo to its report was based on how she was toasted by netizens in the past for posting or sharing photos that are irrelevant to what she was writing about, making the photos misleading. Her most popular mistake with photos was likely her sharing of a Facebook post that used the photo of the Honduran police while asking for prayers for the Filipino soldiers fighting in Marawi City. She later said that she used the photo for “symbolism” purposes. Uson was also slammed for using the photo of a wake of a cop that died a year ago while daring Vice President Leni Robredo to visit the wake and for sharing the Mula sa Masa, Para sa Masa report about Marawi that used a Rappler photographer’s older photo of the Marawi siege.
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