And it hasn’t stopped.
Years later, a different country, a different headline: Donald Trump claiming Haitian immigrants were eating pets in Springfield.
The same playbook, the same fear-mongering, just a new coat of paint.
And, to really see the pattern at work, we’ll look at other fear-driven media fabrications—because Swan Bake wasn’t a one-off. It was part of something bigger.
The Birth of a Lie: The Sun’s "Swan Bake" Story
The Sun’s article wasn’t subtle.
It began: "Callous asylum seekers are barbecuing the Queen’s swans. East European poachers lure the protected royal birds into baited traps, an official Metropolitan Police report says."
The piece claimed that police had caught migrants in East London "red-handed" with roasted ducks and two swans "ready to be cooked."
But crucial details were missing.
The report did not name any suspects, provide police statements, or include official sources beyond vague claims. The Metropolitan Police report it cited was nowhere to be found.
Yet, the inflammatory language was enough to spread outrage across Britain.
Nick Medic Takes on The Sun
Nick Medic, a Serbian journalist and asylum seeker in Britain, wasn’t just skeptical—he was determined to get to the bottom of the story.
He had seen how tabloids manipulated narratives before, but this time, he wanted to prove it with facts.
Medic and his colleagues at the Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and the Media (RAM) Project launched a systematic investigation:
- Calls to police stations: He rang every police station in East London, asking for records of arrests related to swan poaching. The answer was always the same: no arrests, no reports, no cases.
Tracking the "official police report": The Sun claimed an official Metropolitan Police report confirmed the story. Medic contacted the Met Police press office, requesting a copy. Nothing existed. There was no such report.
Fact-checking the Swan Sanctuary’s quote: The Sun had quoted Steve Knight, head of the Swan Sanctuary, as saying: "To these people, swans are a perfectly acceptable delicacy." But when Medic spoke with Knight directly, he got a different version. Knight claimed he had been misquoted. All he had said was that a member of the public once called him about a person pushing a swan in a shopping trolley. That was it.
Medic had enough evidence to disprove the article entirely.
Yet when he reached out to The Sun for a response, the paper stood by the story.
Even as his findings contradicted every element of the report, the tabloid refused to back down.
Rather than retract the claim, The Sun dug in its heels.
They dismissed Medic’s inquiries, avoided engaging with police confirmations, and continued pushing the narrative.
Realizing that this was bigger than just a bad article, Medic and RAM filed a formal complaint with the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), hoping for some accountability.
The Tabloid Tactics – How Disinformation Persists
Faced with a lack of evidence, a responsible news outlet would retract the claim.
Instead, The Sun doubled down, publishing a follow-up: "Now they’re after our fish!"
The article claimed asylum seekers were also poaching fish from British rivers and lakes.
This is a classic tactic of disinformation:
- Create an inflammatory story that taps into people’s existing fears.
- When challenged, don’t back down—shift the focus and reinforce the narrative.
- Repeat and escalate—before anyone can fact-check one claim, move on to the next.
This pattern is not accidental. It’s designed to exploit psychological vulnerabilities in the audience.
Here’s how:
- Confirmation Bias – People are more likely to believe information that fits what they already suspect. If someone already thinks immigrants are a threat, a headline about “swans being stolen” feels true enough.
The Illusory Truth Effect – The more often we hear something, the more likely we are to believe it. Even after debunking, the idea lingers—just hearing the false claim repeatedly gives it weight.
Fear as a Motivator – Sensationalist stories trigger emotional reactions first, reasoning second. Fear overrides logic, making people less likely to question the story.
Moral Panic Amplification – The more extreme the claim, the more it spreads. “They stole our swans” is absurd, but it’s so absurd that people share it—laughing, outraged, or both.
Tabloids profit from fear and outrage, and in the early 2000s, asylum seekers were a convenient scapegoat.
The "Swan Bake" hoax fed into anti-migrant hysteria, reinforcing stereotypes that Eastern Europeans were "barbaric" and "lawless."
Tabloids have perfected this formula because it works. Outrage sells. Fear keeps people engaged. And when real facts contradict the narrative?
Just pivot, escalate, and move to the next story before anyone catches up.
And Swan Bake wasn’t alone. Let’s look at the company it kept.
The Pattern of Manufactured Outrage
"Asylum seekers ate our donkeys!" screamed the Daily Star in 2003.
The article claimed that immigrants in Manchester were stealing donkeys and roasting them over open fires.
Proof? None. Just an anonymous "local source." The story made its rounds, outraging people who had never even seen a donkey in real life.
Then there was "Hot Cross Buns Banned!"—a Sunday Telegraph gem from 2003, insisting that UK schools had forbidden the Easter treat to avoid offending minorities.
The reality? One school temporarily swapped them for plain buns because of an unrelated catering issue.
That didn’t matter. The damage was done. Another outrage cycle, another wedge issue.
Perhaps the most dangerous of the fabrications was the "assassination plot" story.
In the mid-2000s, tabloids claimed that asylum seekers were plotting to assassinate the Queen.
The source? A convicted fraudster with a history of fabrications.
The story fell apart quickly, but by then, the idea had settled in the public mind: asylum seekers weren’t just stealing swans and donkeys—they were a threat to national security.
The Real-World Consequences of Disinformation
The "Swan Bake" hoax and its tabloid siblings weren’t just bad articles—they damaged real lives.
- They reinforced anti-migrant stereotypes, making asylum seekers the target of suspicion and hostility.
- They contributed to a toxic media environment, where tabloid falsehoods shaped public perception.
- They weakened trust in journalism, as corrections rarely reach the same audience as the original lies.
But the impact goes deeper than just bad headlines.
Fueling Public Anger and Policy Changes
Fake stories like Swan Bake don’t just entertain or mislead—they drive political action.
When falsehoods about immigrants "stealing," "poaching," or "refusing to integrate" circulate unchecked, they fuel harsher policies.
In the years following these tabloid fabrications:
- The UK tightened its asylum policies, citing "public concern" about migrants. That concern? Fueled by misinformation.
- Far-right rhetoric surged, with politicians repeating tabloid lies as "evidence" of a migrant crisis.
- Anti-immigrant violence increased—people radicalized by media narratives took action, believing they were "defending" their communities.
Creating Long-Term Myths
Even after debunking, these stories don’t die. They get reshared, repackaged, and revived.
Years later, you’ll still hear claims about migrants eating swans, refusing to respect British culture, or being involved in criminal conspiracies.
This isn’t just a UK problem.
Donald Trump revived a nearly identical claim in 2024, alleging that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were "stealing and eating pets."
- The claim spread across social media and conservative news outlets.
- Local police confirmed no such incidents had been reported.
- But the damage was done—the idea took hold, and people still believe it.
Disinformation doesn’t just persist. It mutates. It expands. It finds new targets.
Lessons from the Fear Factory
The "Swan Bake" hoax, the donkey-eating panic, the hot cross bun outrage—none of these stories were real, but all of them had real consequences.
They didn’t just deceive; they shaped public attitudes, influenced policies, and created an atmosphere of distrust and hostility.
And it keeps happening.
From The Sun in 2003 to Trump’s Springfield pet-eating hoax in 2024, the tactics remain the same: invent a scandal, stir outrage, let the lie spread faster than the truth can catch up.
It’s a cycle, and it feeds on us—on our fears, our insecurities, our willingness to believe the worst.
So what can we do?
- Recognize the pattern. When a story feels tailor-made to make you angry, ask why? Who benefits from your outrage?
- Question the source. Is it backed by facts, or just a loud headline? If there’s no evidence, assume it’s a story, not the story.
- Push for accountability. Misinformation thrives in the absence of consequences. If media outlets won’t hold themselves responsible, readers have to demand it.
- Resist the conditioning. Fake news isn’t just about false claims—it’s about training people to react without thinking. Breaking free from that cycle is the real battle.
Because the next wave of manufactured panic is already brewing.
The only question is: will we fall for it again?
Fake news isn’t just an attack on the people it smears. It’s an attack on the reader.
It preys on emotions, weaponizes fear, and poisons the ability to see truth clearly.
We need to fight back—not just against bad reporting, but against the conditioning that keeps us locked in these cycles of outrage.
Because the next fabricated crisis?
It’s already being written.
Further Reading and Sources
- Nick Medic, How I Took on The Sun – and Lost (2004) – Link
- Press Gazette, Sun accused of Swan Bake ‘myth-making’ – Link
- The Guardian, No PCC probe into 'swan eating' story – Link
- Reuters, No evidence Haitian immigrants stealing, eating pets in Ohio – Link
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