Today, mainstream media published something that left Pakistani readers wondering ad laughing at the professionalism of media and the seriousness of their claim to fact-checking: the official identity card of the San Bernardino female terrorist named Tashfeen Malik.
Part of the ID was flashed on CNN two days ago and today the Pakistani paper Express Tribune published the alleged ID’s front side. Being a Pakistani, I found it surprisingly entertaining that a so-called professional media source would be so unprofessional to openly present something so obviously fake.
While a Facebook page of the CNN videos showing the fake ID card has already received comments at by dozens and dozens of Pakistanis mocking at Malik’s fake ID, I would quickly like to point out a few major problems that non-Pakistani readers may find interesting about the card image (shown here).
- Picture Placement: Absolutely fake as many Pakistanis already have pointed out. The picture on the computerized ID – which is what every current Pakistani ID is – clearly appears to have been placed/pasted on the card or its background design. In real IDs, the picture is printed out on the card itself and shows no surface versus depth contrast.
- Signature: Again completely fake. Signature, like the photo, is printed out and is texturally harmonious with the rest of the card, not pasted/placed over the card surface.
- Date Format: Mali’s card shows the date of birth as July 13, 29186. On a real Pakistani CNIC, the same date would read as: 13/07/1986. So obviously fake.
- Font: The right column’s font is real and is the standard font used on all CNIC cards. It lists (from top to bottom): name, gender, father/husband’s name, identification mark, date of birth. But the info provided on the left is in a different font that is not genuine. The difference is pretty obvious in terms of font size and font style.
- Missing Card Instruction. Now this is pretty funny. As I illustrate in the card image, there is a line of instruction saying (translated in English): “If you find a missing card, put it in a nearby letterbox.” And in a genuine ID card, this line is on the back side of the card. In the card image shown on “professional media”, this line is on the front. How did it get there?
Besides these main observations, the spacing between various elements of the card, notably between the authority’s signature (bottom right) and the overlay, is out of proportion when compared to a regular CNIC.
Now, with this kind of farcical reporting, how many millions of Americans and non-Pakistanis have already been fooled by these propaganda media sites? If there is an original, non-photo shopped card of this terrorist woman, we’ll all love to see and it’s media’s responsibility, particularly of Pakistani media, to show it live at the database office of the relevant district.
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