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This tweet is not going over well with journalists who think it only deepens America's trust issues with the media.
UPDATED 10/18/18 at 3:04 p.m.:
Elle issued an apology on Twitter reading, "We made a bad joke. Our passion for voter registration clouded our judgement and we are sincerely sorry."
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Journalists think Elle Magazine crossed the line into fake news territory on Thursday when the publication's Twitter "reported" that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were "splitting up."
The link didn't lead to a juicy article about what would be the biggest celebrity divorce of the decade, and instead led curious Twitter users to a page encouraging people to register to vote. Backlash was instant, with commenters in the media and beyond calling the tweet "trash" and challenging the publication to "do better."
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are splitting up đŸ˜±đŸ’” https://t.co/epwKG7aSBg pic.twitter.com/u7qqojWVlR
@ELLEmagazine
BuzzFeed tech reporter Ryan Mac was among the ticked off journalists, replying on the tweet, "Delete this." Mashable editor Erin Strecker called the stunt "condescending," and CBS reporter Brittney Hopper commented, "You give journalists a bad name. This is horrible. So unethical."
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View StoryYashir Ali, who has broken dozens of major entertainment news stories for various publications, retweeted Elle's tweet with the comment, "When a random tweeter did this it was clever but now you're just stealing their tweet and also spreading fake news."
On the flip side, journalist Ashlee Marie Preston, who has written for a number of major publications, pointed out that she had the same idea before Elle. "Welp...it's official...Kim Kardashian finally decided to divorce Kanye West...," she tweeted Oct. 12 and linked to www.Vote.gov.
See the backlash brewing below.
When a random tweeter did this it was clever but now you're just stealing their tweet and also spreading fake news. https://t.co/RDZg4bQsMc
@yashar
Omg @ELLEmagazine —that reminds me of the time...https://t.co/gjbUpXeccp
@AshleeMPreston
can we not do this? besides the fact that you directly ripped this idea from an individual twitter user — you are an actual publication that people look to to report truth. this isn't helping. and by the way, nobody's going to vote because they got tricked into it.
@_brittanyv
You give journalists a bad name. This is horrible. So unethical.
@brittneytv
not funny
@sallyshin
This is condescending. People can care about more than one thing at once!
@ErinStrecker
Just wanna go on the record as hating this. If someone has to trick you with celebrity clickbait to get you to register to vote, maybe you shouldn't be voting https://t.co/hlY9gFhgJV
@peterjhasson
Preying on your readers' shallowness and stupidity to own the cons https://t.co/yc2gyJtzEM
@SirajAHashmi
Deceptive practices are generally frowned upon with regards to electioneering, btw. https://t.co/dgefFPHrib
@JerryDunleavy
The desperation jumped out
@ira
Kim and Kanye are not splitting up, and Elle is cruelly spreading fake news about someone else's marriage to try to get people to vote. This is sick. https://t.co/ng9cjXBlqU
@amber_athey
This is trash nonsense. Who do you think you are reaching with this? Guess what? One can be civic minded and interested in celebrity gossip. Do better.
@rgay
Clickbait. Link leads you to a webpage to register you to vote.
@AndrewJKugle
I've seen several Facebook posts doing the same thing with Kanye and Kim. https://t.co/xua8SQtrWJ
delete this.
@RMac18
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