Rhode Island TV Station Admits It Staged "Some Television Magic" After A Golf Tournament

According to a tipster who goes by the name of The Great One, a "local TV reporter showed up late to a [Rhode Island] golf tournament, decided to ask the participants to recreate the event, got caught by a newspaper reporter at the event and, on Twitter, responded 'Hater's gonna hate.'"

T.G.O. was talking about WPRI Channel 12's coverage of the Ocean State Women's Golf Association championship match in West Kingston on July 14. According to R.I. Central, the station and an affiliate ...

... showed highlights of North Kingstown resident and former Skippers' golf star Samantha Morrell and her opponent Ali Prazak putting on the 18th hole at Laurel Lane Golf Club in West Kingston in the finals of the OSWGA championship match in its nightly sportscast.

Problem was, what viewers saw never happened.

The footage, shot by reporter Sara Hogan and described putt-for-putt on air by WPRI sports director Eric Murphy, was staged ...

WPRI News Director Joe Abouzeid replied in an e-mail "The video that Sara Hogan was taking of the players was for a story that she is working on about the players that has not yet aired. It is not our policy to recreate or reenact 'highlights.' It is, however, our policy to specifically and accurately describe and identify the video that we present. It appears in this case that although the video was not described as highlights, it should not have aired in this context."

In other words, 0:10-0:36 of the 0:55 video atop this post — featuring "Coverage You Can Count On" about the "amatuer" competition — are staged. Also, Media Bistro and Poynter have dutifully weighed in, because haters gotta hate.

WPRI 12 stages footage of Morrell's win at OSWGA Championship [R.I. Central]