Taiwan's Chinese Television System (CTS) recently apologized for "causing public panic" when it erroneously ran a series of alerts saying China had launched attacks on the island.  One of the alerts appearing on its screen read, "New Taipei City hit by Communist army's guided missiles."  Another stated, "Vessels exploded, facilities and ships damaged in Taipei port."

CTS attributed the unfathomable airing of the fake news to staff who mistakenly put out content from disaster prevention drills that the station was commissioned to produce for New Taipei City's fire department.  The company subsequently released a statement saying: "CTS offers its sincere apology that this serious flaw has caused panic among the public and trouble to relevant units."

CTS logo.

CTS also noted that it ran corrections and apologies on multiple channels and added that it will "severely punish" those responsible after it analyzes the results of an internal probe.

Mainland Communist China has long threatened to attack Taiwan and bring it under its control.  Tensions have dramatically increased recently due to China's saber-rattling and Russia's attack on Ukraine.  Many feel that it is only a matter of time — and not much time at that — before free and tiny Taiwan is attacked and subsumed by its giant communist neighbor.

In light of this, it is incomprehensible that such a blunder could occur.

Before reporting extraordinarily disturbing things like, say, "a comet is going to wipe out life on Earth," "an alien invasion is imminent," "giant murder hornets are going to fly away with your offspring," or "Nancy Pelosi is going to speak at your next PTA meeting," it might behoove media outlets to exercise due diligence and verify the "information" before publishing it.

Just sayin'.