Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 26/09/2023; Author: Mladen Lakić
Numerous local media published articles stating that during Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to New York, the message “Glory to Urine” was written on a billboard in that city instead of “Glory to Ukraine”. The news, however, is made up.
On September 21, 2023, the web portal Jutarnji list published an article with the following title:
An incredible gaffe in the centre of New York: See how Zelensky was welcomed on the big screen!
The article states that in the centre of New York, during the visit of the Ukrainian president to this city, there was a message “Glory to Urine” instead of “Glory to Ukraine”.
Volodymyr Zelensky was in New York (…)
But what the world media is buzzing about now is the incredible gaffe made in the centre of New York. The message “Glory to Urine” appeared on the huge digital billboard, instead of “Glory to Ukraine”. The video, of course, went viral.
The article states that the cause of the error is a problem with the system, i.e. automatic word correction and that this was explained by “the company that manages the billboard”:
The company that manages the billboard explained that the error was caused by an intelligent system that automatically corrected the word “Ukraine” into a word of similar form – urine.
In the analyzed article, a post by a user of the X network (formerly Twitter) in English was attached, which featured a six-second video, showing a billboard with an alleged message.
Allegations that the message “Glory to Urine” was displayed on a billboard in the centre of New York were later published by dozens of web portals in the local language. These are articles with almost identical titles and content, without significant changes.
Facebook users also shared the mentioned video (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). The earliest was published on September 21, 2023, at 8:07 p.m. Given that the article was published almost half an hour later, it is clear that this story first appeared on social networks, from where the media also took it.
Is the footage authentic?
Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, visited New York, where on June 19, 2023, he addressed world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.
Claims that the message “Glory to Urine” instead of “Glory to Ukraine” was written on a billboard in the centre of New York during his visit were also shared in the English-speaking world.
Their accuracy was verified by, among others, the Associated Press (AP) in an analysis published on September 23, 2023. The company that manages the billboard from the video told the AP that there was never “any Ukrainian advertisement” on it, that is, it did not display an alleged message about Ukraine:
“No Ukrainian ad has ever been shown in that space”, Erin Watkins, general counsel of Big Outdoor, the company that created and operates the billboard, told the AP. “It’s completely made up”.
Also, the AP states that the video circulating on the Internet shows the Fox News Digital logo in the upper right corner, which leads to the conclusion that it was broadcast on that medium. However, Connor Smith, a spokesman for Fox, told the AP that “the footage is in no way associated with the company”.
In the same analysis, AP states that the original origin of the video is not clear, but that the details on it indicate that some shots were taken long before Zelensky’s visit.
For example, as AP writes, McDonald’s recently opened a branch near the billboard, which is not visible in the analyzed video. Additionally, the clothing of the people in the video is adequate for colder weather, although the temperature in New York has been warmer in the past two weeks – around 27 degrees Celsius.
The invented justification of the company
The accuracy of the claims about the alleged billboard with the message “Glory to Urine” was also checked by USA Today. In the analysis published on September 25, 2023, it was also concluded that it was edited footage and that such a message did not exist.
USA Today additionally concluded that the claim from the analyzed articles about how the company that manages the billboard explained that the message was the result of an error in the system is also incorrect.
Namely, according to USA Today, a screenshot of the announcement in which the company allegedly admits the error was shared in the English-speaking world. The company, however, has never issued such a statement, which Jason King, the company’s spokesman, confirmed to USA Today.
No one admitted any mistake and this is also clear from the statement of the same company that AP received, in which it was confirmed that they never had a billboard in that place with a message about Ukraine.
Given the stated facts, the claim that the message “Glory to Urine” appeared on a billboard in New York instead of “Glory to Ukraine” during Zelensky’s visit to this city, published for the first time in our speaking area by a private account, is rated as fake news. The article published on the web portal Jutarnji list, which published the claim for the first time in the form of a media report, received the same rating for the same claim.
We evaluate all subsequent publications of the same claims as the distribution of fake news.
The claim of the web portal Jutarnji list suggesting that the company that manages the billboard explained that such a message was due to a system error is also rated as fake news.
Note
27.9.2023: In 2008, the editors of the web portal Telegraf, BL portal, Danas, and Republika, provided us with modified versions of the originally published articles, which were supplemented in accordance with the correct information and were evaluated as corrected. 28.9.2023: The editorial office of the web portal Glas Srpske also informed us about the changes to the article, which was also evaluated as corrected.
29.9.2023: In 2008, the editorial offices of the web portals Banjaluka, Dnevnik, and Slobodna Bosna also changed the originally published articles, which were evaluated as corrected.
1.10.2023: In 2008, the editorial staff of Srbija Danas submitted to us an amended version of the originally published article, which was assessed as corrected. The rating and note on the correction were added later due to technical reasons on October 3, 2023.
4.10.2023: Articles from the web portals Informer and Nezavisne have had a corrected rating added.
6.10.2023: An article from the web portal ATV was added to a corrected rating after changes were made to the originally rated version of the text.
