BS: Paper Falls for Gag in Humor Tabloid

Subject: Paper Falls for Gag in Humor Tabloid
From: GUEST,Be careful what you parody
Date: 09 Jun 02 - 08:26 PM

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=humannews&StoryID=1062704

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing's most popular newspaper has unwittingly republished a bogus story about U.S. Congress threats to skip town for Memphis or Charlotte unless Washington builds them a new Capitol building with a retractable dome.

The source? America's celebrated spoof tabloid, the Onion.

The Beijing Evening News, which claims a circulation of 1.25 million, translated portions of the Onion's tall tale word-for-word in the international news page of its June 3 edition.

The reprinted version of the May 29 article, which parodies Congress as a Major League Baseball squad, also copied the Onion's would-be blueprint for a new legislative home that resembles a ballpark. "Don't get us wrong: We love the drafty old building," the Onion quoted House Speaker Dennis Hastert as saying.

"But the hard reality is, it's no longer suitable for a world-class legislative branch. The sight lines are bad, there aren't enough concession stands or bathrooms, and the parking is miserable."

The spoof from the brazen entertainment tabloid, which dubs itself "America's finest news source," apparently took in the Evening News.

"The story was written by one of our freelance writers," an editor at the Evening News told Reuters on Friday. "His stuff has been pretty much reliable before."

The editor said he had received other calls from readers about the article. "They were also suspicious of the contents."

Told the story came from the Onion and was not true, the editor said, "We would first have to check that out. If it's indeed fake, I'm sure there will be some form of correction."

Subject: RE: BS: Paper Falls for Gag in Humor Tabloid
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Jun 02 - 11:06 PM

This isn't the first time the Onion has been taken seriously. Some time ago, the Onion ran an article headlined "Harry Potter Books Spark Rise In Satanism Among Children." (Apparently The Onion has deleted the article from its archives, but you can see a copy of it here) The article got circulated on the Internet and some Christian newsletters quoted it as truth. Read all about it at snopes.com

Subject: RE: BS: Paper Falls for Gag in Humor Tabloid
From: CarolC
Date: 09 Jun 02 - 11:16 PM

Oooohhh, but wouldn't it be so cool if it were true, though? (The one about US Congress)

Subject: RE: BS: Paper Falls for Gag in Humor Tabloid
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 10 Jun 02 - 12:28 AM

My memory may be sputtering again, but wasn't there a humor tabloid called "Eastern Onion" here in the States some years ago? I wonder if "The Onion" is a digital descendant.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Paper Falls for Gag in Humor Tabloid
From: Gary T
Date: 10 Jun 02 - 12:47 AM

The funniest/scariest part in the article I read was about the editor (or someone) getting very defensive about this, saying something along the lines of "How do you know it's not true? Can you prove they (Congress) aren't doing this?" Apparently in China saving face is more important than the truth to more than just the government.