Everybody occasionally makes mistakes. Yet in a world of 24 hour news, and near instantaneous transmission across the internet, an error can be halfway around the world before a fact-checker has got his boots on. With media groups under pressure to cut costs on production, might another layer of risk be attaching itself to the news business?

On Monday, for instance, a research service picked up on an article posted on the website of the Florida Sun-Sentinel reporting a United Airlines bankruptcy filing. Shares in the airline collapsed until it emerged that the article in question in fact dated to 2002, the last time the airline industry was on its knees. The shares quickly rebounded, recapturing much, but not all, of the lost ground.