28 THE QUEENS COURIER • JANUARY 24, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
28 The Queens Courier • JANUARY 24, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS www.qns.com
The misinformation trap
Imagine going to the dairy aisle of your
local grocery store, looking for a quart of
milk and seeing that every carton lacked
an expiration date.
Would you pick up an unmarked carton
THE QUEENS
editorial
sun
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
CO-PUBLISHER
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ART DIRECTOR
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
STAFF REPORTERS
CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS
PRODUCTION MANAGER
INSIDE SALES MANAGER
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
PRESIDENT & CEO
VICE PRESIDENT
WWW.COURIERSUN.COM
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
BOB BRENNAN
ROBERT POZARYCKI
NIRMAL SINGH
EMILY DAVENPORT
JENNA BAGCAL, MARK HALLUM, KATRINA MEDOFF,
CARLOTTA MOHAMED, ALEJANDRA O'CONNELL-DOMENECH,
BILL PARRY
CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI
DEBORAH CUSICK
CELESTE ALAMIN
MARIA VALENCIA
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361
718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441
www.qns.com
editorial e-mail: editorial@qns.com
for advertising e-mail: ads@qns.com
Entire Contents Copyright 2017 by The Queens Courier
All letters sent to THE QUEENS COURIER should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should
include a full address and home and offi ce telephone numbers, where available, as well as affi liation, indicating
special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, AS WELL AS OP-ED PIECES IN NO WAY REFLECT THE PAPER’S POSITION.
No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE QUEENS COURIER. The
publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the
error. Errors must be reported to THE QUEENS COURIER within fi ve days of publication. Ad position cannot
be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication. Schneps Communications assumes no liability for the content
or reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold THE
QUEENS COURIER and its employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the
publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement.
Catholic Schools Week starts across Queens and Brooklyn this Sunday, Jan. 27. Catholic academies
across the borough will be hosting open houses showcasing their educational programs in the hope
of bringing in new students for the year ahead. This 2012 photo published in the Ridgewood Times
shows students at St. Stanislaus School in Maspeth praying during one of their open house sessions.
Send us your historic photos of Queens by emailing editorial@qns.com (subject: A Look Back) or
mail printed pictures to A Look Back, Schneps Publications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. All
mailed pictures will be carefully returned to you.
STORY: Rego Park Kohl’s is one of four store locations to close later
this year, reports say
UMMARY: Kohl’s announced that they will be shutting down four of
its stores nationwide, including their location in Rego Park.
REACH: 20,665 people reached (as of 1/21/19)
and bring it home to your family?
Of course not. Th ere’s no way of knowing
how long that milk has been sitting
there, or if it’s fi t for consumption. Th e
last thing anyone wants is to pour sour
milk into their breakfast cereal or a glass.
Th e same can be said for news online.
Th ere’s no set expiration date for stories,
of course, but there’s currently a phenomenon
of old news being circulated as
new on the many social media networks
we enjoy.
One such event occurred this month
and aff ected a deli in Bayside, and this
news organization.
In 2008, Th e Queens Courier published
a story about the rumored potential closure
of the establishment. As it turned
out, the closure never happened — but
the story remained out there online in
the archives.
Fast forward to this month, and someone
on social media picked up the 2008
story from our archives and posted it
on Facebook. Th ey presented the story
as new news, that the deli was about to
close, and lamenting its alleged loss for
the neighborhood.
Nothing could have been further from
the truth. Th e deli wound up getting tons
of phone calls and inquiries from customers
about its future. Th e management
wound up taking to Twitter to reassure
customers that the deli wasn’t going anywhere,
and that the old story turned out
to be incorrect.
Aft er hearing about this incident, Th e
Queens Courier and QNS.com published
a story about the fi asco in order to set the
record straight.
Th is isn’t a new trend, of course. We’ve
seen on our social media feeds friends of
ours sharing local and national news stories
many weeks or months old, even stories
about celebrity deaths that occurred
years ago, as if these events just occurred.
Ironically, despite the wealth of information
at our fi ngertips in the digital
age, we all fi nd ourselves fi ghting a war
against misinformation. Some of that
misinformation is accidental, such as the
sharing of old news. Th ere is, of course,
the more deleterious danger of “fake
news,” stories intentionally designed to
distort the facts and encourage people to
fall for something.
All of us who use Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram and other social media venues
must be careful not to fall into the misinformation
trap. What we see and share
on our walls and in neighborhood groups
can be seen by others and can spark a
rumor mill that can hurt people, organizations
and businesses alike.
Don’t let the truth turn sour!
A LOOK BACK
Publisher & E ditor Victoria Schneps-Yunis
Co-Publisher Joshua A. Schneps
Chief Operating Officer Bob Brennan
E ditor-In-Chief Robert Pozarycki
Art Director Nirmal Singh
S ocial Media Manager Emily Davenport
S taff Reporters Jenna Bagcal, Mark Hallum, Katrina Medoff
Carlotta Mohamed, Bill Parry, Naeisha Rose
Alejandra O’connell-Domenech
Contributing Reporters Cliff Kasden, Samantha Sohmer, Elizabeth Aloni
Production Manager Deborah Cusick
I nside Sales Manager Celeste Alamin
Chief Financial Officer Maria Valencia
President & CEO Victoria Schneps-Yunis
Vice President Joshua A. Schneps
Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361
718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441
www.qns.com
editorial e-mail: editorial@qns.com
for advertising e-mail: ads@qns.com
Entire Contents Copyright 2017 by The Courier Sun
All letters sent to THE COURIER SUN should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should
include a full address and home and office telephone numbers, where available, as well as affiliation,
indicating special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request.
No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE COURIER SUN. The
publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by
the error. Errors must be reported to THE COURIER SUN within five days of publication. Ad position
cannot be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication.
VIctoria Media Services assumes no liability the content or reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes
all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold The Courier SUN and its
employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the
publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement.
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