I believe that we, the media, failed the nation when it comes to E-Creator. The company knew exactly how to play us, and had us singing their praises and legitimising their scam.
Here’s some information that many of you know but some may not.
Companies often send press releases to the media, touting their latest products, services, and achievements. This is how the media learns about what companies are doing. There’s no problem with that.
However, there is a problem when the media simply accepts these press releases at face value, without doing any independent verification.
This is what happened with E-Creator. The company sent out press releases that made it sound like they were a legitimate business. The media simply parroted these press releases without doing any further investigation. Why? – for various reasons which may include:
- eagerness to report on a success story,
- laziness to investigate and verify the story,
- a rush to be the first to share the story,
- being paid to cover the story (but not even disclosing it as a sponsored post)
E-creator coverage
Once E-creator got that positive coverage, they went on to use that as proof that they were legit. Here’s how they touted this coverage in their promotional material and ’employee handbooks’.
ZTV
Image taken from ’employee handbook’ showing E-creator CEO being interviewed on Good Morning Zimbabwe on ZBC TV.
Below the picture, it says, “Live on ZTV! ….The company’s CEO 2023.3.30 has just been interviewed by ZTV
The Herald
A picture and a screenshot showing coverage of E-creator in The Herald where the title reads “New strategies to transform e-commerce”
Just above the screenshots, E-creator said “The largest newspaper in Zimbabwe, The Herald, enthusiastically reported on the work of E-creator and its future vision
The enthusiastic reporting they talk about was likely written by E-creator themselves. The article reads like marketing copy, and it does not sound like the kind of writing a Herald journalist would produce. It is possible that a Herald journalist edited the copy, but it is more likely that the article was written by E-Creator and then simply published by The Herald.
The Herald has since deleted the article. If you try to visit the link to the article, it will now take you to the Herald’s home page. But nothing is ever truly deleted from the internet so here is the article they pulled down.
NewsDay
E-creator also peacock-ed the coverage they got from NewsDay.
Screenshot of E-creator puff piece in NewsDay with the title “Harare’s e-commerce company empowers the youths”
Again this reads like something an E-creator marketing person would write, not NewsDay.
The post has since been deleted by NewsDay but you can check it out here.
E-creator only showcased coverage by these media houses because that was good enough to establish that they were legit. They were essentially saying, ‘Look, these media houses looked into us and this is what they think.’
That doesn’t mean it was only ZTV, The Herald, and NewsDay that covered E-creator positively. Many other publications did the same and for the most part, it looked like E-creator marketing copy.
As a result, many people believed E-Creator was legit and proceeded to ‘invest’. Which turned out to be a mistake as the headline below shows:
E-creator is dead, founder flees with US$1m (or so we’re being told)
Not cool, iHarare, not cool
In the aftermath of the E-Creator collapse, many media houses scrambled to quietly delete the embarrassing puff pieces they had written about the company. However, iHarare decided to go for the jugular and call Zimbabweans gullible for falling for the scam.
Is it victim-blaming? Yes, but it’s also true if we’re being honest. However, iHarare was not in a position to say Zimbabweans were gullible when they had availed their platform to E-creator to assure Zimbos that it was legit. iHarare helped legitimise E-creator and then had the nerve to call us gullible for believing their own coverage. That’s not on.
Back in June, iHarare ran a piece titled “E-creator Zimbabwe assures clients and investors of its legitimate business model“
Just a few days ago when E-creator released a ridiculous statement on delayed withdrawals, iHarare ran a piece titled, “Your money is safe”: E-Creator Zimbabwe reassures investors following withdrawal delays.
Then when it hit the fan, they say “E-Creator closes down as founder flees with cash, leaves gullible Zimbabweans in tears“
I believe that even if iHarare had not helped lend credibility to E-Creator, it would still have been inappropriate for them to call Zimbabweans gullible for falling for the scam. As the media, we have a responsibility to help people understand scams like these, not to make fun of them.
The E-Creator scam was a classic Ponzi scheme, and it is important for people to understand how these schemes work because it appears as if just a tiny variation of a Ponzi scheme and Zimbos think it’s the stock exchange.
The media should not be in the business of taunting people who have been scammed. Instead, we should be using our platform to educate people about these scams and how to avoid them.
Of course, as individuals, we can laugh at each other for falling for a scam. I mean, the E-Creator employees‘ arrogance had all of us waiting for the day it all went belly up just so we could say, ‘I TOLD YOU SO.’ The memes have been merciless and they should be. Maybe that way people will think twice before joining a no-risk-high-reward scheme.
But it is not the media’s place to join in the taunting. We have a responsibility to be more responsible and to use our platform to help people, not to hurt them.
Our responsibility as the media (and yours)
We, the media, have a responsibility to be more critical of the information that we report. We should not simply accept press releases at face value, we need to do our own research and ask tough questions. Otherwise, we will continue to be fooled by scammers.
Press releases do not mean the job has been done for you. They are an invitation to look into a possible story.
We are not on a high horse as Techzim here because we got this one right. No, we are all too aware of our need to do better. We’ve made massive blunders as you all know. That said, we have to call it out when someone lends credibility to a scammer and then calls us gullible for believing it as iHarare did.
We named The Herald, NewsDay and ZTV because they were used in E-Creator’s promotional materials. This is to challenge the media to be more critical of the press releases that they receive and to remember that they have platforms that can lend legitimacy to any companies they cover.
We would also like to remind the general public that even when something is covered in the media, it is important to do your own research.
We know that even we, as journalists, can sometimes miss the ball. That is why it is important for everyone to be skeptical of information that they receive, and to be willing to do their own research.
Also read:
E-creator will make some people money before it folds, shattering many – classic Ponzi scheme
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