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January 19, 2009

Independent and Telegraph fooled by tattoo video

By sally

News organisations around the world last week were left embarrassed after a widely reported story was revealed to be a fake.

Mumbrella, the Australian media and marketing blog, has reported that a video of a girl getting a tattoo in order to win a job conserving the islands of the Great Barrier reef was a fake.

Tourism Queensland advertised the job and posted a video of a girl getting a tattoo that read “I heart the great barrier reef,” claiming it was an application they had received for the post.

News organisations globally reported the story highlighting the girl’s apparent commitment to winning the role.

Mumbrella reports that the video was in fact fabricated by Brisbane based advertising agency CumminsNitro working for Tourism Queensland.

In the UK both The Independent and The Telegraph ran the story.

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