Oh dear! Marianna Spring, ‘specialist disinformation correspondent’ for the BBC, and part of the BBC Verify team, has been accused of lying on her CV in order to get a job a few years ago.
Five years ago, in 2018, Spring was looking for work as a Moscow stringer for US-based news site Coda Story. In her application to editor-in-chief Natalia Antelava, she included a CV in which claimed to have worked alongside BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford on the corporation’s coverage of the football World Cup held in Russia.
The entry in her CV read: “June 2018: Reported on International News during the World Cup, specifically the perception of Russia, with BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford.”
This claim was, unfortunately, pure disinformation. In reality, she had merely met Rainsford in a couple of social situations. The claim was a lie.
A simple check by Antelava with Rainsford resulted in the latter admonishing Spring for the embellishment in her CV. A grovelling email apology from Spring to Antelava followed, citing, in her own words, her “awful misjudgement”.
“I’ve only bumped into Sarah whilst she’s working and chatted to her at various points, but nothing more. Everything else on my CV is entirely true,” she emailed, assuring Antelava nevertheless that she was “a brilliant reporter.”
“When the BBC’s disinformation correspondent lied on her CV” – New European, 6th Sep 2023
Ms Spring, who was promoted to her disinformation and social media correspondent title in August last year, has worked for Panorama and has her own BBC podcast called Marianna In Conspiracyland.
She is part of the BBC Verify team tasked with fact-checking, countering disinformation and ‘explaining complex stories in the pursuit of truth’.
Well I think it’s only fair to say that she has some actual experience of disinformation herself.
And to think she has the nerve to go around accusing others of peddling misinformation and disinformation.
While there is a great deal of misinfo and disinfo out there, people like Spring, Verify and other ‘fact-checkers’ are nothing more than ‘narrative enforcers’ seeking to shut down any valid or contrary opinions and discussions.
I’d like to see BBC Verify try and fact-check this one though!
