Mile High Sports reporter Cody Roark is the latest prominent media figure to be the victim of a fake Facebook page.
Following similar incidents in which NFL Network’s Jane Slater had to clarify that she was still alive and a YES Network spokesperson denied a viral post claiming analyst Paul O’Neill had been diagnosed with cancer, Roark, a longtime Denver Broncos beat reporter, is in the crossfire of this troubling trend.
Recently, according to a report from the Denver Post, a Broncos-themed Facebook page called Wild Horse Warriors posted an announcement of Roark’s death. The post was rife with inaccuracies, including Roark’s age and references to his nonexistent child. Nevertheless, it generated 120 reactions and led one of Roark’s colleagues to reach out to him to make sure he was alive.
The Post‘s reporting led Meta, Facebook’s parent company, to take the Wild Horse Warriors page — and other connected accounts — down from the platform.
“It was just one of those things you hate seeing,” Roark told the Post. “Just doesn’t make sense. I always thought, like — usually you see that happen to, like, high-profile celebrities. For that to happen to me was just really weird.”
“Very, very weird.”
Roark expressed concern that older people in particular are apt to fall for these fabricated reports, which largely appear to be AI-generated and designed to generate ad revenue when Facebook users click the corresponding link inside the post.
A similar page, according to the Post, went viral with a false report that Broncos legend Terrell Davis had been diagnosed with throat cancer.
This troubling trend does not appear to be slowing down, as AI-generated content runs rampant across the internet.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.