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In the same way that obituaries are often drafted by newspapers in advance of a person's demise, the same is true of reactions to world events. It's a difficul
by jka 5y ago
In the same way that obituaries are often drafted by newspapers in advance of a person's demise, the same is true of reactions to world events.
It's a difficult realization, in some ways, to understand that the messages we receive may often have already been prepared before events take place in our perception of time.
My understanding is that there was an alternative message[1] prepared in case the Apollo 11 mission did not succeed, for example.
It's notable to some extent that the message you've posted here was made public by accident. But those possible-future messages are out there -- and in some ways, knowing their contents would allow us to learn a lot more about where we are geopolitically.
Given the state of data security nowadays, I'd even guess that some "fake" future announcements may be drafted to mislead snoopers. Even without the ability to know for certain what was prepared with authenticity and integrity, the contents could still allow useful inference.
[1] - https://web.archive.org/web/20120724221032/https://watergate.info/1969/07/20/an-undelivered-nixon-speech.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120724221032/https://watergate...
- kenniskrag 5y ago> are often drafted by newspapers in advance I also saw that with sports topics.
- mattlondon 5y agoI wondered if this was a "scheduled post" that someone set up a while back and forgot to take down. I get the feeling that most people (Russia & elsewhere) thought that the invasion would be a bit of a white-wash: a sort of Blitzkrieg operation where the Ukrainian army was rapidly overpowered/evaporated (kinda like Afghanistan) by overwhelming force, and so there would be Russian tanks patrolling an occupied Kyiv within 48 hours or so, so schedule this post to go live 4 or 5 days after the start etc.
- trhway 5y ago>would be a bit of a white-wash: a Blitzkrieg operation where the Ukrainian army was rapidly overpowered/evaporated instead there is a new Ukrainian battle cry, frequently mentioned on their TV (without any beeping) and everywhere, "The Russian Navy vessel, go f&ck yourself." - that is the response given by the defenders, most of whom died in the fight that ensued, of the Snake island to the threat by a Russian Navy missile cruiser to bomb the island if they don't give up the island. Ukrainians are really pissed off. On TV channel 5 they promote an initiative to post photos of killed Russian soldiers on Google Maps so that the soldiers' mothers, wives, etc. were able to see it there.
- jawk 5y agoBloomberg also accidentally posted a "Russia invades Ukraine" story on February the 5th.
- seba_dos1 5y agoFWIW, Russia has invaded Ukraine in 2014 and occupies parts of it ever since. Now they extended their aggression to target the whole country full scale with intention to overtake their capital. Journalists had plenty of time to read the writings on the wall.
- vanusa 5y agoIn the same way that obituaries are often drafted by newspapers in advance of a person's demise, the same is true of reactions to world events. In totalitarian regimes (and those strongly on the spectrum of totalitarian), sure -- you can bet this happens all the time. Otherwise? It's basically unheard of. Yes, it has happened as in the case of the Apollo mission (and in niche areas like sporting events) - but by no means does it happen "often".
- loktarogar 5y agoThere's nothing totilitatian in itself about pre-preparing a few versions of media releases etc. The BBC has a pre-prepared version of the Queen's obituary, for example. I know Australian government departments regularly prepare media releases that never happen (from friends in those departments).
- vanusa 5y agoThe BBC has a pre-prepared version of the Queen's obituary, for example. Aside from obituaries, we were talking about. I know Australian government departments regularly prepare media releases that never happen (from friends in those departments). News agencies, we were talking about. Not public relations departments.