CNN has been mocked after the news network was caught using screengrabs from the popular post-apocalyptic video game Fallout 4 in a story about “Russian hacking.”
Vigilant Reddit user Poofylicious spotted something familiar about a recent story about President Barack Obama imposing sanctions on Russia over alleged “Russian interference in the 2016 election.”
The network had used a screengrab of the very popular video game to tell its story. The post-apocalyptic role-playing adventure features a mini game where players “hack” terminals to get access to computer systems and internal correspondence. The video clip has since been updated and no longer shows the awkward moment.
In reality, the hacking game is more like a word puzzle in the jumble of letters on the computer screen. Although it doesn’t portray hacking in reality, CNN deemed the footage ideal to use for a story about Russian hacking.
Poofylicious took a screen grab of the CNN story and the news soon spread on Reddit and other social media platforms.
While the Fallout image was only used for a few seconds of B-roll during the story, the network has been lambasted for more serious forays into ‘fakenews’. Redditors and social media users were quick to mock the news organization for using the video game footage, with many describing the move as another example of ‘fake news.’
Even Bethesda Game Studios, creators of the Fallout games got in on the joke.
Others used the opportunity to mock the Russian hacking narrative.