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News anchor and rival meteorologist feud on social media over ‘fake’ tornado photo

First publishedJul 14, 19:13 UTC
Last updatedJul 14, 21:46 UTC · just now ago
11 outletNew York Post
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News anchor and rival meteorologist feud on social media over ‘fake’ tornado photo
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A Southwest Florida TV weather personality deleted a social media post after publicly accusing a rival station of sharing a fake tornado photo — touching off a public spat over journalistic credibility as AI-generated images become increasingly common. Lauren Kreidler, a meteorologist at WINK News, posted an image of a tornado funnel beneath dark storm clouds over a Cape Coral intersection with a bold red banner reading, “NOT A REAL PICTURE.” In the post, she wrote that the image had been sent into the WINK newsroom during severe storms but insisted it was “NOT a real photo.” The post, which was first revealed by the industry newsletter FTVLive, was later deleted.

Reported by 1 outlet New York Post. See all sources ↓

A Southwest Florida TV weather personality deleted a social media post after publicly accusing a rival station of sharing a fake tornado photo — touching off a public spat over journalistic credibility as AI-generated images become increasingly common. Lauren Kreidler, a meteorologist at WINK News, posted an image of a tornado funnel beneath dark storm clouds over a Cape Coral intersection with a bold red banner reading, “NOT A REAL PICTURE.” In the post, she wrote that the image had been sent into the WINK newsroom during severe storms but insisted it was “NOT a real photo.” The post, which was first revealed by the industry newsletter FTVLive, was later deleted. The image shows what appears to be a narrow tornado funnel extending from a dark, rotating storm cloud toward the ground above a busy intersection lined with traffic lights, utility lines and passing vehicles. The post prompted a response from Gulf Coast News anchor Peter Busch, who had previously shared the same image.

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In brief
What's the story?
A Southwest Florida TV weather personality deleted a social media post after publicly accusing a rival station of sharing a fake tornado photo — touching off a public spat over journalistic credibility as AI-generated images become increasingly common. Lauren Kreidler, a meteorologist at WINK News, posted an image of a tornado funnel beneath dark storm clouds over a Cape Coral intersection with a bold red banner reading, “NOT A REAL PICTURE.” In the post, she wrote that the image had been sent into the WINK newsroom during severe storms but insisted it was “NOT a real photo.” The post, which was first revealed by the industry newsletter FTVLive, was later deleted.
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    News anchor and rival meteorologist feud on social media over ‘fake’ tornado photo

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