Based on inquiries from a number of readers, we have analyzed a media report about the statements made by players of the Croatian football team, that is, the alleged announcement that they will dedicate the match against England in the semifinals of the World Cup to the “mothers and Bosniaks of Srebrenica”.
This statement was first published yesterday, on the Srebrenica Memorial Day, by a website called Životni stil. The headline of the article is the following:
“BALKAN IS THRILLED: Subašić: Tonight I’m playing for the mothers and Bosniaks of Srebrenica”
To begin with, there are strong indications that Ĺ˝ivotni stil in one of its earlier “incarnations” was called Omiljeni portal and that it was launched by the same person or group of people after the Omiljeni portal has been shut down.Â
The same website was repeatedly rated by Raskrinkavanje for making up stories about traffic accidents and deaths of named and unnamed celebrities (identical articles, written in the same style, are found on Životni stil). Just like Omiljeni portal, Životni stil is also completely anonymous, and it doesn’t feature any visible website information about its editorial staff and/or its owners.
However, in this case, the owner of the website was less cautious and did not hide the information when registering the website, and these are available through a Whois search. The website is linked to the Balkan News Facebook page and it exclusively publishes only fake news.
Despite the fact that the statement was published on an anonymous website that fabricates the most incredible nonsense and whose articles are full of grammar mistakes, numerous media outlets have shared this fictional statement attributed to Danijel Subašić within just a few hours.
“At a press conference, Danijel Subašić addressed one very interesting topic. Tonight we’re playing the big semifinals against England. I kept this for the very beginning of the match: I will play tonight for the mothers of Srebrenica and all Bosniaks. I’m very sorry for their losses. So I dedicate this game to them”.
An almost identical statement appeared the same day on a website called Vesti sada, but the statement was now attributed to Luka Modrić.
“THE GREAT LUKA MODRIĆ TO THE BALKANS: Tonight we’re playing not only to win but we are also playing for the mothers and Bosniaks of Srebrenica.”
However, Životni stil did not stop at attributing false statements to just football players but continued the exploitation of the Srebrenica Memorial Day by inventing a statement by a Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (with usual grammar mistakes and incoherent writing). This further contributed to the impropriety of the story:
“A WONDERFUL LETTER: After Subašić, Kolinda has also spoken: We are playing for Srebrenica tonight, for our Bosniaks”!
Kolinda responded from Russia: “I am so sorry for the loss of the mothers of Srebrenica, I sympathize with them. I visited Srebrenica and paid tribute to the Bosniaks. Tonight we’ll play for them. I am very sorry that I could not be the part of Srebrenica again this year”.
After the match, Životni stil came up with another statement dealing with the same topic, with a goal to gain a few more clicks on the account of the Srebrenica Memorial Day and Croatian team victory over the English national team:
“BALKAN ON ITS FEET: Subašić in tears. Making it to the finals is my gift to Bosniaks and the mothers of Srebrenica…”
In each of the cases, the statement was fabricated. In fact, neither Subašic nor Modrić appeared at a press conference held before the match with England. The conference was hosted by the Croatian national team coach Zlatko Dalić and a national team player Dejan Lovren. At this event, there was no word on anything other than the football – as can be seen in the conference footage posted on FIFA’s official YouTube channel. Also, a player Ivan Perišić was the only one who spoke at the post-match conference, which can also be seen on the official recording of the conference.
It is no secret, nor is it a particularly groundbreaking discovery, that anonymous websites, tabloids and similar online “media” do not hesitate to exploit personal tragedies and turn them into cheap spectacles in order to earn greater profits. But this example is really something special. Regardless of the traumas – personal and collective – associated with the Srebrenica Memorial Day, the owner of the website saw this day of grievance only as a good opportunity to attract more visitors to his website – simply because it coincided with a World Cup match in which Croatia participated.
Also, the same example tells us a lot about how much attention certain online media are paying to fact-checking before publishing the articles.Â
Due to fabricated statements, the articles above are rated as fake news, and the media that uploaded them are rated for redistributing fake news.
(raskrinkavanje.ba)
