Identities of Reuters journalists faked in social media accounts

Two Reuters journalists had their identities faked by an unknown person or people who then used sham social media accounts to engage with Chinese activists, reports James Pomfret of Reuters.

Pomfret reports, “The false representations of the two journalists, Shanghai bureau chief Brenda Goh and Hong Kong-based correspondent Jessie Pang, starting in late November, appeared on platforms including Instagram and the Telegram message app.

“The impersonator or impersonators were seeking information about a group linked to protests the same month against China’s strict COVID-19 controls, according to screenshots and several accounts provided to Reuters.

“An Australia-based Chinese activist and dissident artist known as Badiucao first disclosed the impersonations on Saturday on Twitter.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.