The 3 Most Ridiculous Satirical Pieces that Made Real News
A comedy article
by TomServo  3,733  5
10/28/2009 05:33 PM 2951 views
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In the modern world, we are all reliant on accurate and relevant news - I am not talking about the hard-hitting expose you recently read about Angelina Jolie's new butt-mole, I am talking about real, solid news. We base many of our decisions on the messages we receive from our "trusted" news source - Which countries to avoid, who to vote for, and which racial group to hate - but what do we know about these sources?
We picture their newsrooms as the perfect example of professionalism with journalistic ethics oozing out of every nook and cranny. Basically we picture a room like this:
Moments before the early edition went to print
Sadly with the proliferation of the online media, and the highly successful Guns For Reporters scheme, good reporting is hard to find. The fact is that while reporters were once well respected, Channels like Fox News have changed that perception. The news media has become more and more self-referential and as a result no-one with half a brain or any degree of dignity wants to be associated with the profession anymore.
In short, nowadays, the newsroom of your most trusted media source is more likely to look like this :
Moments before the screenplay for "Solaris" went to print.
This Top 3 list looks at the most heinous mistakes made by people from that room after they failed to vet their sources, particularly when that source is The Onion.
1) Conspiracy Theorist Convinces Neil Armstrong Moon Landing Was Faked
This one tops the list because of the sheer lunacy of the article itself. The Onion piece claims that an emotional Neil Armstrong was convinced that the moon landing was faked after he had read a convincing conspiracy theory and watched a few YouTube videos on the matter.
When reading The Onion piece, it becomes clear that a 12 year old with the reading ability of a 5 year old would have been able to identify the dripping sarcasm in the following words:
"Yes, at the time I thought those thousands of NASA employees were working round the clock for the same incredible goal, but if anyone would know what was really going on, it would be Ralph Coleman," Armstrong said of the 31-year-old part-time librarian's assistant. "He knows a lot more about faked moon landings than I ever could. He's been researching the subject on the Internet for years."
This did not, however, deter two Bangladeshi papers from running with the story as real.
When asked how they could make such a mistake, associate editor, Hasanuzzuman Khan said "We thought it was true so we printed it without checking, We didn't know The Onion was not a real news site."
Comforting words Hasnuzzuman. I am sure the Bangladeshi public can sleep well tonight knowing that you will only publish stories you think are true.
2) Congress Threatens To Leave D.C. Unless New Capitol Is Built
Typical yankee, imperialist, pig-dog politicians! They want a retractable dome as part of the Capitol building, and they hold their people ransom to get it!
At least that's what the editors at Beijing Evening News believed when they ran The Onion's piece almost word for word (translated of course).
When confronted about the complete inaccuracy of the article , the editor came out swinging and was quoted as asking "How can you prove it is incorrect, is it incorrect because you say it is incorrect?"
Erm ... No, it's incorrect because it was published as a satirical take on sports teams' relationships with their host cities.
An apology and retraction was eventually published, but not without having one final dig at the yankee, imperialist, pig-dog journalists who "frequently fabricate offbeat news to trick people into noticing them with the aim of making money."
3)Study: 58 Percent Of U.S. Exercise Televised
Now I don't know if we can really blame anyone for believing The Onion's piece that claims the majority of exercise performed by Americans is done on television in order to sell exercise equipment (obesity stats don't lie, fellas), but I think we would have expected more from Deborah Norville who was was working for MSNBC at the time.
The incident occurred in 2004 and, to be fair, was a fluff piece just before the end of her show. The original transcript can be read here, it appears just after the last commercial break.
This is a journalist who has been awarded two Emmys for her television work. I imagine that those awards are now being used as book-ends for her "Journalism Ethics" textbooks.
Did we miss a classic fake news story reported as real? Discuss, below.
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Like This? Rate It!
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Hilarious
11 votes
4.0
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0 votes
0.0
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Reverend Dave 'Hell' Rodriguez 2,330  0
10/28/2009 07:51 PM
So, you posted a couple links to Onion funny Onion articles, with some strange, unfunny wording in between and you are expecting zugs?
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Chuckleworthy
3 votes
2.7
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Ali the Undead Legend 721 5
10/28/2009 08:30 PM
So, you posted a couple links to Onion funny Onion articles, with some strange, unfunny wording in between and you are expecting zugs?
I'm telling John you said that.
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Funny
2 votes
3.0
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John Hargrave 116,460 19
10/28/2009 10:43 PM
We commissioned this article -- I thought it was funny, anyway.
Constructive criticism welcomed, and as always vote with your fingers!
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Amusing
1 votes
1.0
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A.C. the Sanguisuge Frankenstein 5,835 4
10/28/2009 11:25 PM
Nice compilation. Not the TomServo I've seen before and I like it. Way to not suck.
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Chuckleworthy
1 votes
2.0
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TropicalChris 3 1
11/07/2009 10:12 AM
GASP! MSNBC falsely made a news story? This must have been the only time they have done this, EVER. Like for realz, MSNBC is the most trusted news source...just ask all 360 of their viewers.
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