This was a classic case of rumour-mongering and running with an unsubstantiated story by the media without undertaking a basic process of fact-checking. Which is especially harmful keeping in mind that it may instigate violence and unrest in an already volatile environment. How difficult is it to ascertain the source of the news, or even confirm with the police? While many journalists who had bought into the rumour retracted the news after having confirmed that it was fake (hopefully), many news outlets continue to believe the rumour and mislead their readers and viewers. What makes the fake news worse is that the same people who are holding up Ummer Fayaz as a symbol of patriotism, are the ones who detracted from and helped sully his funeral. Only because they wanted to run with a story which showed that stone-pelters “didn’t even spare funeral procession of Army officer” in contrast to Burhan Wani’s funeral, which was attended by lakhs. A pity, since Fayaz’s funeral was reduced by much of the media to a TRP-grabbing news item, buoyed up by lies.