Hunter Fisher from Atlanta, whose name was replaced by a local channel with a supposedly more believable one for a street New Year’s Eve interview, shared his amusement with RT at the mess-up and at how fast it went international.
Fisher was interviewed by WSBTV on New Year’s Eve, but his name was replaced in the broadcast with that of book author Benjamin Holcomb. Fisher tweeted about it for his friends, and the incident went viral, probably fueled by the entire “fake news” concept, which gripped international media last year, he told RT.
“A reason why it blew up so fast, I think, is because of this all ‘fake news’ storyline. It was timely, relatable,” he said. “I’m sure you went through some of the replies I was getting on Twitter and you saw that a lot of this was ‘that is fake news’ and ‘this brings fake news right into 2018’. I got a lot of that response”.
Fisher said he was not offended by the channel’s changing his name, which he believes happened because people on WSBTV didn’t believe it could be his real one. After all, it has been a talking point among his friends for all of his life, he said.
“You could probably guess that my mother definitely has a good sense of humor for deciding that would be a good name. It’s a catchy name. I wasn’t insulted. It was kinda funny,” he said. “My name has always been kinda unbelievable – Hunter Fisher – especially for a kid in downtown Atlanta.”
“My mom really wanted me to be Hunter Trapper Fisher. That was the original plan. I kinda wish it would have been. That would be a solid theme throughout the name,” he added.
READ MORE: Fake news? Atlanta news org changes man’s name during NYE coverage
Fisher seemed quite amused about his story going viral so rapidly. He said: “I would never even have expected this – just five seconds of me running into a cameraman in a crazy New Year’s Eve celebration has turned into this kind of international conversation we’ve had, and I really do appreciate it.”
If there is a moral to this New Year’s Eve tale, it would be to double-check your sources, Fisher explained. He personally maintains “healthy skepticism” towards the media and prefers to do his own research.
“I encourage a lot of people to do the same. I think it’s really important not to believe something with absolute conviction just because it comes from a place that you like,” he said. “I am a numbers person so I look for evidence a lot of the times. I do have that healthy skepticism and I want to make sure that what I hear, no matter what source it’s from, is accurate.”
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