It is a journalist’s responsibility to double and triple check the facts before composing and publishing a piece of content. Even when a journalist makes an honest mistake, it tends to be something they never hear the end of. Moreover, for every piece of published content, there is an eagle-eyed reader waiting to check for errors and typos.
In journalism, mistakes can come in many forms. The Hill recently made a journalism blunder when they published an article about Susan Rice at the beginning of the week but mistakenly used a picture of Condoleezza Rice instead. While the media outlet has since changed the photo, it wasn’t until after many readers, as well as a few other media outlets, noticed the glaring mistake.
Yahoo Lifestyle was one of the first to report on the photo error. According to the media outlet, neither Condoleezza nor Susan has released any type of statement or comment about the mix-up.
Michael Eaves appeared to be the first user on Twitter to notice the mistake.
“D**n, y’all. For real??” the user questioned in a tweet that tagged The Hill and included a screenshot of the original photo.
Twitter quickly lit up with other individuals sharing their own thoughts on the photo mix-up.
That looks like @CondoleezzaRice to me ??? @thehill pic.twitter.com/D1DiV7IDKO
— JARosenberg (@JARosenberg12) October 8, 2018
While some Twitter users were not too harsh when they pointed out the mistake, others were not so friendly with their comments.
“All black people look the same” was a comment left by many different individuals including Soledad O’Brien , the CEO at StarfishMedia.
Some even took the time to attempt to educate The Hill on the key differences between Susan and Condoleezza.
Hello! #TheHill – Susan Rice is the Former U.S. NSA (Obama) and is considering a bid to unseat Sen. #SusanCollins (R-Maine).
And, #CondoleezzaRice is the Former U.S. SOS (Bush W.) and the one who introduced and sat behind #BrettKavanugh during the #SenateJudiciaryHearings . #Duh pic.twitter.com/kDljlEAZK9
— Valerie (@Numbr1critic) October 9, 2018
Some insisted The Hill owed Susan an apology for the massive error.
Um so any African-American woman will do for the photo? This is INEXCUSABLE! You owe a HUGE apology to the ‘real’ Susan Rice!
— Linda Vastardis (@OriginalLinnie) October 8, 2018
There were even some who thought the media outlet should take a hard look at their current staff and consider making some changes.
Y’all need a black person somewhere on your team…that has enough sense to check up which black person you’re referring to Cuz that ain’t Susan Rice. But you think y’all ready for the Blacks in your party….Please.
— Willa Stevenson (@willa_willaya) October 9, 2018
Shared more than 2,000 times across various social media platforms, the comment section on the article itself also filled with people calling the media outlet out for the error.
“Holy cow! The Hill is full of morons who can’t tell Susan Rice from Condoleezza,” one individual named Hound Dog exclaimed in the comment section on the article.
Susan Rice and Condoleezza Rice look NOTHING alike. Do these media outlets do this on purpose? https://t.co/iRkwsFRPVE
— NewsOne (@newsone) October 8, 2018
“Don’t expect the staff to know anything about politics. They are extremely clueless,” a second chimed in.
There were some individuals who slammed The Hill for making this type of mistake as they are a political media outlet and should know the difference between Condoleezza and Susan. There were even some individuals in the comments who took offense to the mistake.
Susan Rice says that yes, people do confuse her with Condoleezza Rice https://t.co/rSqEFmlQVR pic.twitter.com/IWf7AebYAI
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) December 28, 2016
A third added, “As a black person Im totally offended The Hill thinks all black people look the same.”
Yahoo Lifestyle did reach out to The Hill to get a comment about the mistake but did not receive any response. The political media outlet, however, was very quick about swapping the photo with one that actually featured Susan.