Has the Internet become the misinformation superhighway?
This morning, I woke up all happy, knowing that the Airport North Freeway now has ETC capabilities. I’ve the gear in the car: all I’ll need to do is to zip through the ETC toll gate lane, and get from A to B without stopping — even through those toll gates. Furthermore, by taking the Airport North (as I call it), I avoid the jams on the main Airport Freeway.
Well, too good to be true — apparently. The Internet report claiming that ETC systems were all clear on the Jingcheng, Jingkai and Airport North Freeways, as well as on the 6th Ring Road (which all, by the way, charge you dearly for every mile you make) is fake (at least bits and bobs are). There are still ETC-unfriendly toll gates on the Jingcheng Freeway heading to Shunyi, Miyun and Chengde (the exit which is supposed to take you to the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park still has an ETC gate out of action), I’ve never seen ETC on the 6th Ring Road, and the Airport North Freeway’s ETC plots are getting nowhere.
Your faithful evening newspaper… sometimes with fake news…
I’ve fallen victim into being gullible enough to believe just a trickle of the reported rubbish. Some folks reporting the news are just waiting to get hate mail from their readers… (or they’re probably lazy enough to not tell truth from fiction). Here’s the stuff I read, believed, and fell victim to:
• September 28, 2004: they said the Jingcheng Freeway from the 3rd to the 4th Ring Road was reality. Was not.
• Much of 2007: we were indoctrinated with the fact that the Mozart Line, Subway Line 5, would open on September 20, 2007. Not the case.
• January 2008: they said they’d redo Gucheng Station so that it’s a single central platform — no longer two side platforms. Guess what: no way Jose.
Some news end up being copied verbatim. Let’s hope they’re all real!
Here are some I did not fall for…
• The Airport Freeway is supposed to start at Sanyuanqiao to the east and end up at Capital Airport in the west. Redo your geo lessons, mate!
• And finally… Line 1 is supposed to be blue, and Line 2 of the Subway system, red. That’ll make them laowais get really confused!
Someone keep an eye out on those reporters — they come with notebooks, microphones and cameras, but sometimes come without — proper analysis.
Which is pretty sad — did they not say that the media here is supposed to serve the people?…
