CNN Newsource | Mashable | The Independent
An errant tweet from a BBC journalist claiming Queen Elizabeth had been hospitalized triggered a wave of uncertainty Wednesday before the rumor was shot down.
The panic began after Ahmen Khawaja, a journalist at the BBC, tweeted that the 89-year-old monarch was being treated at a London hospital, according to The Independent:
“False alarm to Queen’s death!” it said. “She is being treated at King Edward 7th hospital. Statement due shortly.”
CNN Newsource followed up with a tweet, now deleted, which read:
“JUST IN: Queen Elizabeth II hospitalized at King Edward 7th Hospital in London. FILE out now – IN-17WE.”
Both CNN and Khawaja quickly recanted their bulletins:
False Alarm: Have deleted previous tweets!!
— Ahmen Khawaja (@AhmenKhawaja) June 3, 2015
Affiliates, please disregard our previous tweet about Queen Elizabeth. It was sent in error.
— CNN Newsource (@CNNNewsource) June 3, 2015
In the aftermath of the erroneous tweets, Khawaja and her employer offered different explanations for the false alarm. In a tweet which has since been deleted, Khawaja said the report was caused by a “silly prank” stemming from an unattended phone, according to Mashable.
The BBC’s official statement contradicted this version of events, saying the false report was caused by a blown “technical rehearsal for an obituary.”
During a technical rehearsal for an obituary, tweets were mistakenly sent from the account of a BBC journalist saying that a member of the royal family had been taken ill. the tweets were swiftly deleted and we apologise for an offense.
John Plunkett, a broadcast correspondent for The Guardian, explained the misleading tweet in further detail on Twitter:
BBC was carrying out 'category one obituary rehearsal' when reporter mistakenly tweeted Queen in hospital
— John Plunkett (@johnplunkett149) June 3, 2015
BBC normally does major public figure death rehearsals at weekends. This might be why…
— John Plunkett (@johnplunkett149) June 3, 2015
BBC News boss to staff: 'It’s essential that we can rehearse these sensitive scenarios privately' #bbc #queen
— John Plunkett (@johnplunkett149) June 3, 2015
BBC News boss: 'I’d ask you to refrain from external conversations and social media activity about this exercise' #bbc #queen
— John Plunkett (@johnplunkett149) June 3, 2015
