Hugo Chavez Hoax Thread

Not too long ago a thread popped up citing CNN Chile that stated Hugo Chavez was dead, found here. Since there seemed to be no corresponding evidence to back it (I assume) it was moved to the hoax bin.

Since then Chavez it's been announced that Chavez is indeed dead, and the link in the original premature thread is 404'd.

However, in this case whether it be a leak, or random coincidence, there was something to the original thread and I kind of feeling killing off the thread (leaving it in the hoax bin) and directing it to now active threads on the matter kind of does a disservice to the original thread poster.

I am very vocal about certain threads getting thrown into the bin, because I find hoaxes and misinformation the bane of the internet. However, I also feel if a story is justified or vindicated, it needs to be disseminated as such.

In this case, the original story that popped up might have more to it, whether or not you can find any evidence to support that it was a leak is probably up for debate, but I just wanted to raise the issue on board business & questions, seeking an official response from the good staff members and their opinions on the situation.

Thanks for reading,

B

I just want to chime in and totally agree.

That could have been a legitimate leak for all we know and it seemed that way when we heard the "news".

But how do we know going forward what should be taken as a Hoax or not? Or even a leak?

People didn't latch onto the idea until the MSM spewed it all out in their usual fashion.

So only information thats released by the mainstream media is considered valid?

Uhhh, does anyone else see what the problem is with that?

I hope we here at ATS are not basing all of our assertions and conspiracies on only whats released by the MSM.

The original thread was a hoax on the day it was reported. At the very least, it was not being confirmed and was being denied by official sources.

The official response was given a few days ago, and therefore more relevant threads appeared.

The thread was closed and redirected to the relevant threads that popped up with the proper sources and new stories.

Staff made the decision by consensus.

~Tenth

The BBQ board is not for discussing staff actions, please file an alert if you find this answer unsatisfactory.

Thread Closed.

~Tenth
ATS Mod