Falsified claims, fabricated quotes, and inaccurate reporting can destroy a journalist's credibility and, for some, even their career. But what happens when a journalist finds their name and photo on a story they never even wrote?
This is becoming an increasingly common occurrence, as part of campaigns orchestrated by pro-Russian disinformation actors — some of which fit into the Storm-1516 operation, a Russian propagandist group that spreads false narratives about Ukraine and the West online.
As part of this strategy, the work of legitimate news outlets — from Euronews to the BBC and ABC News — is impersonated, while journalists' bylines are also stolen.
One journalist who found himself at the heart of such a campaign is Romain Fiaschetti, an entertainment reporter from the south of France.
In June, he received an unexpected Facebook request — which he presumed was spam — from a Paris-based gynaecologist.
"Did you publish this article?" she asked, attaching a link to an article and video published on 25 June, which alleged that Orano — a French nuclear waste company — was secretly bribing Armenian officials to take on France's waste.
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