Announced that someone had died, who had indeed died last year. 😳

But I really want to plead my case here.

I was reading an article on the BBC website, and in the right-hand column, there is a series of headlines, all of which appear to be from today except for Ronnie Corbett’s death.

Why on earth would it be appearing mixed in with timely news items?!?

In any case, upon closer inspection (and it did take a minute), I caught myself before I reacted by posting it here.

Have a look for yourself.

I knew this was Ronnie Corbett before I even opened the thread.

Saw it trending on the BBC news website an hour ago and wondered how long it would take you.

As always, you did not disappoint. 🙂

I find it strangely comforting in the current world of unpredictable turmoil

‘It is better to say nothing and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt’

He came back to life. The vicar had to decapitate his reanimated corpse with a shovel.

Happens all the time with dead showbiz types apparently.

I saw that, and thought (as I often do)

“oh, I presumed he’d died ages ago”

For once I was bloody right 🙂

Nearly did the same myself! 🙂

He came back to say sorry .

The vicar had to decapitate his reanimated corpse with a shovel

The handle of a garden fork surely?

Because the sidebar is populated by popular stories based on page visits – so it’s a self perpetuating list. If you clicked through to read the story – you just moved it further up the list……..

Its a chart of popular links – ‘Most Read’ today. You’d expect that to equate to a current topic but it can be skewed by factors outside the BBC’s website. If a well-read website links to an old story on the BBC’s site then people clicking through (as we might have done if the OP had linked to the story itself rather than the BBC’s homepage) can make old stories climb up that chart. At least the link flags it as an old story but it would be smarter if the Beeb put a time limit on stories that can qualify as ‘trending’. Really any story thats more than a month old, or even a week old, shouldn’t appear on that list no matter how much its being read.

I got very confused about Ronnie dying again earlier, damn BBC and their quick links that relate to most clicked articles!

But why are so many clicking that old Ronnie article now, just after a year since he started pushing up the daisies?

I was amazed to discover Doris Day is alive, but then thought que sera sera.

But why are so many clicking that old Ronnie article now, just after a year since he started pushing up the daisies?

Don’t know why it initially got lots of clicks to get it on the trending sidebar but once it’s on there then people click out of habit as much as anything.

I know the links now say if the story’s old, but I suspect many miss / ignore that in a ‘wtf! I thought he was already dead!’ clickpanic and then the ‘damage’ is done

Very good mefty.

Yep, nearly blurted it out this morning in the office-no-one would have taken the mick would they?

I saw that too. I think the original article is exactly 1 year old. Folk looking it up as it’s the anniversary of his death?

Some sites say ‘Note this article is old’…

Although in your case SaxonRider I’d have thought you’d double check 🙂

Hendrix is dead?