Belgian TV shocks country with fake news of split

The Belgian public television station RTBF shocked viewers on Wednesday evening with a dramatic - but fake - news report that the Dutch-speaking half of the nation had declared independence.

The Francophone station abruptly interrupted programming with the mock report, hoping to stir up debate a few months before an election in a country with distinct divisions between its Dutch and French-speaking regions.

The station broadcast interviews with real Belgian politicians, and showed cheering crowds holding the Flemish flag and huge traffic jams leading to Brussels airport.

The station’s website briefly crashed because of the number of hits.

Yves Thiran, head of news at RTBF, compared the station’s attempt to stir political debate to the radio theatre staged by US director Orson Welles in October 1938, when he fooled many Americans with mock news announcements that Martians had invaded Earth.

He added that the fictional broadcasts would continue on RTBF’s radio channel on Thursday morning.

Source: Reuters, via today’s European Journalism Centre’s daily Media News Digest