The British newspaper The Times He's made a colossal blunder. He published an interview with former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in which he directly criticized candidate Zohran Mamdani, which was surprising considering he had repeatedly praised him in the preceding months. The explanation for this sudden change of heart? The journalist had been talking to another Bill de Blasio, whom he had contacted via email, and this person took advantage of the fact that he shared a name with the politician to avoid clearing up the obvious confusion and instead deliver inflammatory responses from the journalist (prepared with ChatGPT, to top it all off). The newspaper has removed the article, but it still appears in other media outlets that picked it up and haven't yet realized the extent of the damage.
It's truly a huge oversight to interview a high-ranking official based on an address found online without doing even the most basic verification. The other Bill de Blasio claims he never told the journalist he was the former mayor, nor was he ever addressed as such. He simply offered his opinion, but the confusion was obvious, and he chose to mislead the journalist by not clearing up the clear misunderstanding. However, the blame lies with whoever signs an article pretending to have interviewed someone without having had a face-to-face meeting or even a minimally articulated phone conversation, based solely on a scant exchange of emails. Beyond the mess, all of this highlights one of the ills of digital journalism: haste. Give me a quick sentence via WhatsApp, and I'll turn it into a headline capable of changing an election. Mamdani has been the target of dirty tricks by the American far right. It's only a matter of time before he suffers the consequences of this kind of desk journalism that's too lazy to get out on the street or pick up the phone.
