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© Reuters
I've seen Morgan Freeman come up as the center of a Twitter death hoax or two that got blown painfully out of proportion, but the Morgan Freeman hoax uncovered today is one which should not be considered any joking matter at all.

Its seems, just last night it was discovered that the controversial statement Morgan Freeman was reported to have made concerning shootings and shooters such as those involved in the recent Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy, taking place in Newtown, Connecticut this week were actually not his at all.

Instead, they were traced back to a fellow named Mark who reportedly lives in Vancouver. Mark's statement actually first appeared on Facebook, before making its way to Reddit, where it went viral within moments, prompting those who started the hoax to say the following later:

"Was actually written by a dude named Mark in Vancouver. Couple of us thought it'd be funny, since it was a well written article, to attribute it to Morgan Freeman--Day Later, Reddit Front Page. Bravo, Internet."
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© reddit.com

The article, indeed was well written and made powerful statements about the media and their handling of tragedies such as the Newtown Elementary shootings and other gun related tragedies which have occurred in the recent past including long past but not forgotten incidents such as Columbine to recent horrors like that which took place in a Colorado movie theater showing Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rising" earlier this summer.

Here is what the writer Mark, aka "Morgan Freeman" had to say:
"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single victimof Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news."
Well, as mentioned before, it didn't take long for every major media outlet to jump on the Morgan Freeman "statement, and so, just to clear up the confusion, Stan Rosenfield, Freeman's publicist, confirmed that the actor never did make the statement. So, what did the actor Morgan Freeman have to say about the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings taking place in Newtown, Connecticut? Nothing at all actually. Freeman at this point has made no statements at all concerning the recent tragedy in Sandy Hook Elementary school which left 27 dead.

Though the things said in Mark aka Morgan Freeman's hoax statement are certainly riveting, it still raises plenty of eyebrows when we consider words were attributed to one, many listen to when he does speak. It also only add to the many ways social networks, though they can be useful for bringing up to the second information on emergency situations like that which unfolded in Newtown Connecticut this week, it can also take a situation and twit it into a shape no one would have expected. It is just a reminder that, whatever you read on the web, makes sure to check it has an original source backing behind it, before taking it as truth. Otherwise, you may find yourself believing a lot which is not fact, but has been dressed up to appear so.