Being “the first” to anything is exciting. Do you ever remember, in school, being the first to finish your work? Super exciting.

But what about being the “first” in journalism?

With the new digital age of media, journalists want not just to be the first for the “scoop”, but for the reach and likes!

But should we forget about Journalism ethics? Human rights to live? Patients’ rights to recover? Celebrities’ right to live safely without fake news about their death?

The real news vs fake news in Egypt:

In journalism, a rumor or exclusive is an item of news reported by one journalist or news organization before others and of exceptional originality, importance, surprise, excitement, or secrecy. It may be unexpected, surprising, formerly secret, and may come from an exclusive source.

And yes, all this fake news is published only to get more likes and shares on social media. It is the new digital currency that made many journalists and people mad.

And just last night, on the 23rd of July, proved just that, when Al Masry El Youm, amongst other supposed prominent and credible publications, announced the death of actress Dalal Abdelaziz, which cause shockwaves on social media.

Her family later confirmed this to be untrue. However, various publications, journalists, and even actors have already shared the news.

What exactly happened?

Egyptian actress, graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Zagazig, to go then to Cairo, discovered by the director “Noor Eldemerdash” then worked with “The Three-Lights Stage” team in the play (Hello Doctor), and that was the beginning to be known to the public. Her works rolled in between theater, cinema, and television, and the most important of which (Sorry For The Inconvenience), (People In Kafr Askar), (Ya Rab Walad).

The famous Dalal Abdel Aziz and her husband, the renowned comedian Samir Ghanem tested positive to COVID-19 on 30 April 2021. Since this happened, people started engaging with fake news talking about their Health and other news talking about their Death too.

This news was firstly published by unknown people and fake accounts on Facebook and Twitter. This news is then followed by the famous newspapers and TV shows telling the truth.

Now, This famous newspaper called Elmasry Alyoum is the source of the fake news regarding Dalal Abdel Aziz’s death on their Facebook page and official Website in 24/7/2021 1:15 AM

Consequences of fake Dalal’s death news.

Since the news source was the trusted famous newspaper Elmasry Alyoum, many pages and news websites copied the news and posted it.

Dalal’s fans

As you can imagine, fans of the actress and her family were devastated. We know we were! Many had, and still, hope that the actress will recover and be back with her daughters and family.

The news of her death felt like a family member left us too soon.

Dalal’s colleagues

Many actors and actresses started mourning Dalal on their social media platforms. According to Hassan Elraddad, many people called him, from family members to journalists seeking confirmation.

Wafaa Amer

Dalal’s family responds to the fake news.

Ramy Radwan

The famous TV presenter and the husband of Donia Samir Ghanem, the daughter of Dalal Abdel Aziz, responded immediately to the fake news published by the well-known newspaper El Masry Elyoum late the last night.

Hassan El Raddad

The famous Actor and the husband of Emy Samir Ghanem, the daughter of Dalal Abdel Aziz, responded too to the fake news on his Facebook page.

Why do these rumors always happen?

The spread of this type of rumor is due to the lack of controls for the chaos of “Social Media,” which necessitates the need to intervene to set regulations and laws to hold accountable those who spread lies. Things like this should be ended as soon as possible.

The Actors Syndicate

The Actors Syndicate has a consistent and well-known position on this type of rumor and has moved decisively more than once in this field. Ashraf Zaki, head of the Representative Professions Syndicate in Egypt, confirmed that these rumors are absurd and offensive at the same time.

Promoters of these rumors have no morals and are inhumane because some artists are already in a critical health condition, and therefore when they read such rumors, they develop a bad psychological condition that may actually affect their health condition.

Ashraf Zaki in a previous statement

The Brightside…

Dalal Abdel Aziz is still recovering from COVID-19 side effects. According to Hassan Alraddad, Dalal is still in the hospital.

God bless you and get you well soon, our beloved Dalal.

At the end

Many regulations are needed to control the chaos of Social Media and laws to judge those fake news publishers. Things like this should come to an end, especially when it comes to a famous newspaper like Elmasry Alyoum in this case.

Many newspapers publish fake news from time to time regarding famous people in different fields, including Actors, singers, and sports players.

Now for you, as a reader. It’s your duty to know who to trust, sadly, even with major publications and journalists.