A Senior Fellow at the Institute of Nonexistence

New York Times by Richard Pérez Peña | Nov. 13, 2008 (News Report)

A Fake Expert and a Phony Think Tank Fool Bloggers and the Mainstream News Media

But most of Eisenstadt’s victims have been bloggers, a reflection of the sloppy speed at which any tidbit, no matter how specious, can bounce around the Internet. And they fell for the fake material despite ample warnings online about Eisenstadt, including the work of one blogger who spent months chasing the illusion around cyberspace, trying to debunk it. Full Story »

Posted by Chris Finnie

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4.0

by Kristin Gorski - Nov. 12, 2008

Fascinating piece about two filmmakers who created a fake expert, policy institute, and accompanying Web site and YouTube clips -- and then duped a variety of respected news outlets into using the ruse as a credible source. Carefully written and sourced piece (it had better be!) seems to get to the bottom of it all.

As I read this piece, I could remember hearing some of these fabricated "facts" being reported on the news. They seemed so credible and fit so well ... More »

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4.5

by Chris Finnie - Nov. 12, 2008

In addition to being amusing, this story illustrates the danger of blogs and the 24-hour news cycle. As the Internet becomes a more respected source of reporting, it is more and more common for mainstream media to pick up a story, amplify it, and repeat it endlessly. It then acquires a life of its own and no number of disclaimers seem to squash it. I've personally seen several of these "facts" reported by established media outlets.

This is why I so value fact-checking sites, and tend to view blog posts with a grain of salt. However, when I said the last to a newspaper reporter ... More »

Chris posted this story.

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4.3

by Michael Bugeja - Nov. 13, 2008

This article explicating a hoax comes one day after a spoof edition of the NYT was distributed in the Big Apple. Media didn't bite that rotten fruit. Sadly, respected media were all too willing to believe the hoax described here about McCain-Palin (including the tidbit that she didn't know Africa was a continent). The NYT reporter might have contacted an attorney to ascertain whether the hoaxsters were liable in inventing a policy analyst surname that just happened to be the real ... More »

I have researched media hoaxes for 20 years and have a chapter on some of the most successful in Living Ethics Across Media Platforms, explaining ... More »

It didn’t hurt that a man named Michael Eisenstadt is a real expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and is quoted in the mainstream media. The real Mr. ... More »

Liberal Pranksters Hand Out Times Spoof - 3 Reviews »

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3.5

by Peter L. Combs - Nov. 16, 2008

The article does a decent but not a great job of explaining how this fraud happened. It also illustrates how easily duped the American press can be. It does not explain how with their resources, the NYT and other media companies were so easily mislead. As a result the story implies even the Times is unreliable as a source for accurate news.

I think had the media in general not been so (by their own admission) prejudiced toward the Democratic candidate this fellow might have been spotted ... More »

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3.7

by Sheldon Rampton - Nov. 13, 2008

Although this story is factually accurate, it is fatally unclear regarding the most important point to the story, leading to misunderstandings that have been repeated on NewsTrust by some of the other people who have reviewed the story. Specifically, the story does NOT state that "Martin Eisenstadt" tricked mainstream reporters into believing a fake story about Sarah Palin not knowing Africa was a continent. That story was reported originally by Carl Cameron of Fox News, based on an ... More »

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4.5

by Glenn LaBauve - Nov. 13, 2008

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3.7

by Fabrice Florin - Nov. 13, 2008

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4.1

by Ernest Smith - Nov. 13, 2008

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Let Sleeping Watchdogs Lie: Fallout from Lack of Follow-up - Analyses/ Commentary (Pending)

media.www.mediaethicsmagazine.com | Dec. 31, 2005

Posted by Michael Bugeja

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Living Ethics Across Media Platforms; Book Review (Pending)

Associated Content | Nov. 13, 2008

Posted by Michael Bugeja

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Liberal Pranksters Hand Out Times Spoof

New York Times by Sewell Chan | Nov. 13, 2008 (News Report)

In an elaborate hoax, pranksters distributed thousands of free copies of a spoof edition of The New York Times on Wednesday morning at busy subway stations around the city, ...

Posted by Michael Bugeja

4.0

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MSNBC retracts false Palin story; others duped

Associated Press by David Bauder | Nov. 13, 2008 (News Report)

NEW YORK - MSNBC was the victim of a hoax when it reported that an adviser to John McCain had identified himself as the source of an embarrassing story about former vice ...

Posted by Fabrice Florin

3.2

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