As video games get more and more realistic, it becomes harder for an untrained eye to distinguish screenshots and real-world photographs. The latest victim of this mistake is Oregon local news station NewsChannel 21, who published a stunning Red Dead Redemption 2 screenshot in its ‘Out & About’ nature photography segment.
The image first appeared on Reddit, with the catch proudly shared by the father of the person responsible for the fake-out. “My daughter sent another picture into our local TV station… from Red Dead Redemption 2 for their “Out & About” segment…” the post reads. “And once again they fell for it!”
A girl keeps sending my local news station screenshots of the landscape from Red Dead Redemption 2 for their “Out and About” news segment… and they keep putting it on the news thinking it’s a photo.
Bella, I salute you. pic.twitter.com/Km5HGz3A4t
— 🔸queenie🔸 (@frenziedandfine) November 29, 2020
The screenshot still exists in a video of the segment posted to NewsChannel 21’s YouTube channel, which has accumulated a number of comments poking fun at the screenshot’s inclusion.
While apparently the culprit has done this (and gotten away with it) before, this is the only instance that has surfaced so far. Still, the channel’s YouTube has an extensive archive of Out & About segments if you want to look for earlier slip ups.
In the past, a number of news channels have gotten themselves into hot water by mistaking screenshots for actual pictures. In one instance, a news channel used a screenshot from Metal Gear Solid 5 in a story about child soldiers. In another, a Danish news report showed a screenshot from Assassin’s Creed to represent Syria. Yahoo News was also caught illustrating a report on Saturn with a screenshot from Destiny–despite the prominent inclusion of one of the game’s spaceships in the foreground.
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