Alex Hern

Dispatches from the front line of the internet

Why is Michael Fish lying about base-jumping, and why are people printing it?

The iconic weatherman, 68, famous for mis-calling the Great Storm, did not jump off a tower block.

By Alex Hern Published 22 August 2012 12:48

Michael Fish, pretending to base-jump.

You may have seen a "viral video" going around yesterday, showing veteran weatherman Michael Fish base-jumping to raise awareness of climate change. The Mirror reported it (Look, a flying Fish! Watch weatherman Michael Fish B.A.S.E jump for climate change awareness), as did the Express (WATCH: ICONIC WEATHERMAN MICHAEL FISH PARACHUTES OFF A BLOCK OF FLATS), while the Huffington Post even ran an op-ed from Michael (Why I Did a Base-Jump to Highlight Climate Change).

The only problem is he did no such thing. The video shows Michael Fish standing at the top of a tower; cuts to a distance-shot of a man jumping off the tower; and then cuts back to Michael Fish standing on the ground.

The stunt was arranged by "ethical clothing company" Rapanui, who confirmed that at no point did Fish actually jump from a tower; instead, it was a "qualified base-jumper" named Dan Witchalls.

The whole thing smells a bit funky. On the one hand, Rapanui were certainly off-base in sending out their press release, which states, in no uncertain terms:

Michael Fish MBE, the iconic British TV weatherman, has completed a B.A.S.E. jump from a London tower block to raise awareness of climate change.

Fish, who is 68 years old and, made the freefall jump from the rooftop, landing by parachute on the ground more than 200 feet below. Fish trained with experienced urban B.A.S.E jumpers prior to the jump.

On the other, while Rapanui have no technical obligation not to lie to the press to further their brand, the Mirror, Express and Huffington Post probably oughtn't to be uncritically reprinting false press releases. And Michael Fish certainly shouldn't be writing intense first-person accounts of an event which never actually happened:

We gained access in a way that might be, shall we say, frowned upon by the police. That, plus the fact that we had a little crosswind on our hands (I had forecast that earlier but nobody would listen, by the way) made for quite a tense atmosphere on the roof. I have to say, there was a part of me that wasn't quite so keen as I had been discussing the idea a month earlier when we last met. Nevertheless, when it came down to it, the training kicked in and it was all over very quickly.

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15 comments

Fri, 2012-08-24 06:03 — Mike, Dalian (not verified)

"as anyone researching this story will surely should know it's a fake," and "The purpose is to raise awareness of climate change." How appropriate: like everything else related to climate change, the BASE jump was merely a lie that required a bit of research to uncover ...

Thu, 2012-08-23 12:54 — Spiraldive (not verified)

Lighten up & stop complaining, everybody!

It was a bit of light hearted fun in aid of a good cause. In this modern culture of the gutter press always printing lies, "Politics", Couch Potatoes, Big Brother is watching you, Nanny State, Cotton Wool Culture & Ambulance Chasing Lawyers, people have forgotten to have FUN.

Thank you Micheal Fish, Dan Witchalls & Rapanui for reminding the world that life should be FUN. And all for a good cause too.

Thu, 2012-08-23 12:54 — Spiraldive (not verified)

Lighten up & stop complaining, everybody!

It was a bit of light hearted fun in aid of a good cause. In this modern culture of the press always printing lies, "Polotics", Couch Potatoes, Big Brother is watching you, Nanny State, Cotton Wool Culture & Ambulance Chasing Lawyers, people have forgotten to have FUN.

Thank you Micheal Fish, Dan Witchalls & Rapanui for reminding the world that life should be FUN. And all for a good cause too.

Thu, 2012-08-23 12:52 — interested (not verified)

Well done Al another pompous blogger completely missing the point from his giant pedestal.

Better stick to writing those hard hitting articles about "Extreme p**n, me and you" and "Twitter goes full d**chebag ".

Still what you clearly lack in personality, is made up for some what by the extra publicity you've created for this brilliant video, important point and marvelous ethical company.

Thu, 2012-08-23 12:00 — Tom Midlane (not verified)

"the Mirror, Express and Huffington Post probably oughtn't to be uncritically reprinting false press releases"

Isn't that what journalism largely is these days?

Thu, 2012-08-23 08:59 — Nathan Gaskin (not verified)

I was equally shocked and appalled to find that the Queen did not actually jump from a helicopter during the opening ceremony of the Olympics. How dare they lie to us in such a manner?!

This was obviously fake, there's nothing to answer for. A great little bit of viral marketing from a great little company for a very important cause. Well done Rapanui!

Thu, 2012-08-23 00:05 — Pam Smith (not verified)

The most incredible garbage gets forwarded around the internet as if it is true because some people don't engage their brains to ask themselves whether things are believable before they pass them on. Look at snopes.com for numerous examples.

This doesn't make the originator of a story a liar, if they never pretended it was true. Maybe I'm old fashioned but I expect newspaper journalists to check out their stories, particularly if they look incredible, rather than just print them straight off the internet. I know times are hard, but even so.

I have a lot of trouble finding wearable and durable, ethical clothes for a family member with high standards who asks for clothes as presents. Rapanui have a good range and their service is excellent. Their ethics extend right to the packaging they use. If you want to expose a commerical company for unethical behaviour I can think of many companies who deserve it more.

Fri, 2012-08-24 17:37 — Bella Della (not verified)

Thanks Rapanui - sorry, I mean Pam.

Wed, 2012-08-22 16:52 — admin

A response to this article from Rapanui: http://www.rapanuiclothing.com/blog/alex-hern.html

Wed, 2012-08-22 15:56 — Martin Drake-Knight (not verified)

Alex,
We sent the press release out ourselves, and called every journalist who got the story to chat over: Everybody who got the story was told that Michael Fish did not do the jump. We told people how we faked it, when we did it, even who the stuntman was.

This included you, when we spoke on the phone.

The copy in the release was written “straight” as anyone researching this story will surely should know it's a fake, if they didn't our comments and replies may have given the game away - otherwise if writers were serious about publishing it, our phone number is clearly indicated on our website: We've been happy to admit that it's a spoof. We didn't feel, at first, that we needed to.

This is an impossible video. BASE jumping is one of the most dangerous things you can do. Michael Fish is a 68-year old retired weatherman. You can see the stuntman’s face if you look. They are different bodies, different days etc. Even the streetlights from on to off. The stuntman is one of the must famous base jumpers in the world. The tone of the release was half comedy.

The video is trying to make a serious subject (sustainability) fun, not to lie and deceive.

Re-watch the first 20 seconds of the video. The purpose is to raise awareness of climate change. The side effect (a mention on a blog or tweet that follows) is to sell a few t-shirts, to allow us to continue to do what we do.

The writers who got the PR decided themselves – with their own editorial policies in mind – how to edit and publish the story, not us. Some decided not to post it. Some posted it straight, some adapted it, some added a short “spoiler” at the end. We hinted at it to our customers on our website which read: “The video is a bit of fun, but - and I mean this sincerely - I do hope my point is not lost.” And have created, as with our last spoof video, a behind-the-scenes vid showing how we did it And when asked on twitter, we’ve responded that it was a spoof, but that we were serious about the message. Any journalists or writers who chanced upon the story and called or emailed got told that it was a spoof, too if in doubt.

I don't see how this is "lying" or completely lacking ethics as the twitter comments that followed suggest.

You’ve used your voice at New Statesman to run a story that mainly serves to upset a bunch of under 25’s in a tiny t-shirt shop on the Isle of Wight who are doing something positive with their lives, trying to stay in work and going out of their way to make a contribution to climate change in a new and entertaining way.

Next time, just enjoy the a video on youtube (not BBC news, youtube) that has a genuinely constructive message. Or if you hate it, don't watch it. Or if you have some feedback, call us and share it - we'll listen.

This is just nasty.

Wed, 2012-08-22 14:01 — Michael Yates (not verified)

Umm, Alex Hern... I'm not sure that anyone actually believes that he did jump once they had watched it, it's all just in good humour isn't it? raising awareness for Climate Change, something which both parties obviously feel strongly about. I don't think you've uneartherd some great conspiracy here, more just simply a case of completely missing the point..!

Wed, 2012-08-22 15:12 — Alex Hern

Actually, a lot of people did believe he jumped. The video was spreading far and wide on Facebook and Twitter, not least because the press release and thus the write-ups accompanying it unambiguously state that Michael Fish jumped.

It may well be a trivial example, but I find it hard to believe that two papers publishing demonstrable falsehoods is something we should all just nod along and accept.

Tue, 2012-08-28 08:27 — Joey McJoe Joe (not verified)

They all jumped on a baseless story.

Wed, 2012-08-22 13:44 — Jeffry Andy (not verified)

This journalist is an idiot. You're completely missing the point of the video. This is one of the most ethical companies in the UK trying to raise awareness of climate change.