Kimmel exposes journalistic missteps

Who would have thought a twerking video could have such serious implications. The video of the Twerking woman who caught on fire ("Worst Twerk Fail ever" was part of the title) was posted on Youtube on September 3, 2013. In days, the video was all over the place, and that includes major broadcasters, cable outlets, and websites of every flavor. (On the YouTube page, the poster bragged that she would "be on Jimmy Kimmel tonight" which, in retrospect, could have been a hint.)

Then, on his late night show on September 9, Jimmy Kimmel revealed that it was all a prank, and the media fell for it.

Funny right? Sure. Serious implications for journalism? Damn right. 

Listen again to Kimmel's revelation with a critical ear. He says they received interview requests, but did not respond to a single one. If Kimmel is telling the truth, doesn't that mean that every single outlet that ran the video did so without confirming even who shot it, who was in the video... and never had the chance to ask "is it real?"

The original version of this video went viral because it is amusing. But then, one media outlet let down its journalism guard. Then another. Then another. Soon, the loss of journalistic integrity is what spread virally. There's a lesson there.