Think Progress has become the latest victim of a juvenile faux news hoax. Think Progress ran a story about how Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann proposed “Americanization” labor camps for Central American unaccompanied children. It quickly spread from Think Progress to other liberal sites, precisely what the “source” KCTV 7 had hoped. KCTV 7 is one of a number of fake news sites run by adolescent tricksters who relish spreading false stories. I have previously written about these sites and the type of low-grade “gotcha” pranks that motivate such people. It hardly takes a genius to set up a site that looks like a real news outfit and run stories to trick anyone who stumbles by on the Internet. I don’t find these pranks funny or impressive. I cannot understand how companies like WordPress give them a platform for such hoaxes or why the creators have not faced personal liability over their false stories.
The story quoted Bachmann as saying “I’m calling on all of us, Obama and Congress and everyone, to chip in and build special new facilities . . . ‘Americanization facilities,’ if you will. And we’d send these kids to these facilities, in Arizona and Texas and wherever else. And we’d get private sector business leaders to locate to those facilities and give these children low-risk jobs to do. And they’d learn about the American way of life, earn their keep, and everyone wins in the end.”
Raw Story reported that “However, it turns out that interview, often sourced to KCTV7, was plagiarized from an openly satirical site, The National Report. The KCTV7 report lifted large passages of the Bachmann “interview” and accompanying text from The National Report website verbatim.” National Report is the fake news site that I previously criticized. I honestly do not understand why these people find such pranks to be funny or worth so much effort. They degrade both media and Internet users. It is the equivalent to graffiti on the Internet.
Think Progress issued the following statement:
The news site KCTV7 News is a parody. Rep. Bachmann (R-MN) never made the statement. We sincerely regret the error.
The editors of the site relish these juvenile pranks. The site states “KCTV7 is a Kansas City news site that reports local and world news, as well as American politics.”
I am astonished that WordPress tolerates such fraudulent sites or that these people have not been sued for false light or defamation. If a site tricks people into buying false items or harming themselves, WordPress would presumably terminate the site. Yet, here is a group of people who work hard to spread false stories to embarrass people — often attributing harmful stories to people like Bachmann. I am less judgmental toward Think Progress as I am toward these juveniles and, by extension, WordPress that gives them access to victims.
And even more amazing is the fact that they think they have others fooled, everyone has their number. Now that is truly amusing.
“Do you think JT would not point out the same if it were a wacky right site? I would give kudos for that as well. Intellectual honesty is dying.” Actually no. I remember a time when a false breitbart story on Dr. Shirley Sherrod was posted here.
Amazing, the most clueless believe they have the answer, yet daily they disprove it. It is to laugh.
SWM, We agree, DC folks, living in the wealthiest city in the US, do take care of their own. I am pleased you admit, albeit grudgingly, that Think Progress was wrong. Bachman does do and say wacky things, but so does Pelosi and many Dems, I see both. Bachman is much easier on the eyes. Has anyone seen Pelosi blink in the past 5 years?
Dr. Charlton Stanley, Firstly, I noticed your paternalistic correction of me when I addressed Ms. Dienes, believing I should call her Dr. I asked her preference and she prefers, “Kim.” So, please take note of that.
Regarding the substance, I have said that red meat sites both fall for this stuff. It’s because red meat cultists are easy to con. Just throw something out there that feeds their hatred and they believe it. When I was interviewing someone in their home who was going to be uncooperative I had the skills to determine quickly what they were about, and I would feed into it, whether they were a hunter or fisherman[I do neither but led them to believe I loved it], car dude, Dem, Rep, didn’t matter. Just feed that beast and an uncooperative person becomes cooperative. If the Good Lord, Jesuits and good Sisters didn’t give me a conscience I could have been a con man.
The defensiveness of leftists here is amusing. Do you think JT would not point out the same if it were a wacky right site? I would give kudos for that as well. Intellectual honesty is dying.
Paul, who is defending anyone? That’s a stretch. However it does sound exactly like something she’d actually say.
Paul, That does not excuse Think Progress but it does excuse those other outlets that picked up the story because it really does sound believable.
Paul,
Not speaking for SWM, but here is a cite.
Annie and SWM – So, your defense for the stupidity of Think Progress is she could have said it, so it is alright to print a lie. This is critical thinking of the highest level /sarc
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/this_could_be_a_career_ender_for_michele_bachmann/ The Minneapolis Star Tribune has much more if you care to do further research, Paul.
SWM – your cite does not back up your charges. So far there is purported smoke, but no fires.
Charlton – your “He jumped off the cliff so it is alright if I do it” defense for Think Progress is just silly. Bad reporting is bad reporting. One of the reasons a lot of papers print the same mistake is they all rely on the same source for it, the AP. And if you cannot tell the difference between a story from the Guardian and the Onion, then I worry for your critical thinking skills.
SWM, I wouldn’t have been surprised at all had she actually said it, not one bit. It sounds just like her.
nick, My original point was that Bachman says so many totally crazy things that although “think progresss” was wrong ,she has said so many totally bizarre things that just about anything attributed to her could be potentially believable.
In the end Bachman is a Washington insider and they take care of their own….She obviously agreed not to run again if they did not pursue the substantial charges.
Say what? I believe the Fox News Network has run with stories from The Onion, only to have to do red-faced retractions. They are not alone in that, especially in these days when it is hard to tell the difference between stories from The Onion and The Guardian. I am not going to go digging for them because I have to be at work in a little while and don’t have time, but I believe this blog has posted stories that later turned out to be ether not true, or not quite as they were first presented.
Remember a story posted on all the major news sites a few days ago about the homeowner who shot the allegedly pregnant female burglar. It was all over the print, on-air and blogs. She wasn’t pregnant.
Nobody is immune. I sense Fox outrage (pun intended).
Professor Turley, why not double outrage for a “news” site that spread unconfirmed (false) reports? I agree I find much of the “humor” on parody sites to be annoying. I find it an order of magnitude worse for “news” sites (including CBS, NBC, etc.) that do not check their facts. Remember when NBC news couldn’t get a pickup truck to explode so they lit a fuse in the gas tank to get it to explode in a crash? Remember CBS news showing a letter about GWB that turned out to be fake? True news reporters are hard to find. One such reporter that left CBS and still has integrity (IMHO) is Sharyl Attikisson.
The “news” pot stinks.
SWM, You’re missing both my point and the point of this post. Being so myopic leads to distortion. I don’t know much about Bachman and nothing about this DOJ thing. But, it would seem strange to me a Holder DOJ would coddle her. However, in the duopoly there is a lotta quid pro quo so maybe you’re corect. I get it SWM, Bachman is a bad and evil person. Well, if I stipulate to that for the sake of this discussion, would you agree even bad people deserve not to be slimed fraudulently?
SWM – do you have a cite for your charges?
nick, Are you saying Bachman did not cut a deal with the DOJ?
Jim, Comedy, comedians, late night comedy shows have become tools of the left. VERY effective tools. But, it is all very much protected 1st Amendment speech. Since the Clinton impeachment too many comedians have become political advocates. While it is their right as a citizen, it betrays their duty as a comedian to adhere to the “Nothing is sacred” rule. Guys like Carson who skewered ALL politicians are rare. Now we have angry curmudgeons like Letterman. I was a huge fan of Letterman from his early days. In the last 10-15 years he’s become an angry guy and a political advocate. I think most of his anger is rooted in being hoodwinked into marrying the mother of his child. We’ve learned, he’s quite the pig sexually.
So Jim, you answer speech w/ more speech. The formerly liberal Dennis Miller is now pretty libertarian. He is socially liberal and anti big govt. There are a few others. But, liberals run TV and Hollywood so it’s a tough road to getting a forum. But, there’s no crying in baseball or politics. As my old man would say to me, “When the job is hard you simply must work harder.” Leave the whining to liberals, that’s their specialty.
SWM, You are incorrigible. What I always appreciate about you is you speak your mind, even when it shows your flaws.