Truck driver caught in viral video trying to run Pittsburgh-area…

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorCBS News reports a truck driver was caught on video trying to run motorcyclists off the road near Pittsburgh. The video went viral.

2. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorViral. That word should frighten everyone. Nothing good has ever been described as viral, and I include the year two thousand nine.

3. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorYou promised not to bring up two thousand nine.

4. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThe second item is stranger. A page from a Spanish university lists a viral clip, with plus signs, brackets and an Instagram buzz in Bangladesh.

5. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorA university?

6. 

   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThe Universidad de Córdoba. Allegedly. The title reads like a password someone sneezed. I have questions about who benefits.

7. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorI have a chart. The line goes up when the headline gets more punctuation. Correlation is perfect, meaning is zero.

8. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThat chart proves nothing.

9. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorIt proves it beautifully. Nothing, in high definition. The internet has weaponized punctuation.

10. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorTimeline. Over eleven hours ago, the university page appears. Four and a half hours ago, CBS reports the truck. Nobody has explained the gap.

11. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorEleven hours.

12. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorWhich means the spam came first and the real news second. The internet is running a very small, very bad heist.

13. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorHere's my rabbit hole. The Pittsburgh truck driver, the Bangladesh clip, the link between them—what if the link is the real story?

14. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorI have looked into that. They are not connected. But I admire the commitment.

15. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSo the plan was to click, be disappointed, and click again.

16. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorEvery click is a vote, Hank. And the votes are in. We are all guilty.

17. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorOn the record, I said earlier tonight the headline itself is the product. I stand by it. Today it has a sequel.

18. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorCan we get to the obvious part?

19. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThe obvious part. A real video, from a real road, shows a truck driver allegedly trying to push riders off it. That is dangerous.

20. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorAnd the doom?

21. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThere is no doom. A driver, some motorcycles, someone with a phone. People filmed it, people shared it.

22. 

    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorAnd the spam piggybacks on the word viral. No cover-up. Just a very old trick wearing brackets.

23. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorSo the conspiracy is that there is no conspiracy. I feel cheated.

24. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorVerdict: share the real one, skip the one with plus signs, and give motorcycles a full lane. This was BBN Investigates.