Fake. Hoax. Media Baiting as a Hobby
Pacific Northwest Medical Journal - About us
The truth about the "medical journal"
Well, the hoax is that California is funding free vasectomies for obese men. It was widely circulated, and the "medical journal" it came from looked authentic. But, it's just a hoax, thankfully. I can hate the world less now. (I won't, but it's nice to know the option is there.)
The bloggers aren't really going to fact-check. Seriously. That's not going to happen. Every shmoe on the Internet isn't going to make the phone calls. The news agencies, yes, THEY definitely need to fact-check before printing items, and it's fair to call them on it when they don't.
But, do we really need these hoaxer guys to make it their personal mission to embarrass the news agencies who don't fact check? Well, SURE they deserve it! But aren't they already embarrassed by not fact-checking, like, every other week already? When a new story comes out that doesn't get fact-checked, and we all find out?
And, YES, I'm just bitter because I bought in! I'm the one who always sends my less Internet-savvy friends to Snopes, with a lecture about being skeptical, when they send me goofy emails about Bill Gates giving away money to everyone who forwards an email, or the giant snake that ate a boy who was camping with his friends. Hmm. Seems I haven't gotten many of those types of emails lately. I wonder why my friends would have stopped sending them to me?
The truth about the "medical journal"
Well, the hoax is that California is funding free vasectomies for obese men. It was widely circulated, and the "medical journal" it came from looked authentic. But, it's just a hoax, thankfully. I can hate the world less now. (I won't, but it's nice to know the option is there.)
The bloggers aren't really going to fact-check. Seriously. That's not going to happen. Every shmoe on the Internet isn't going to make the phone calls. The news agencies, yes, THEY definitely need to fact-check before printing items, and it's fair to call them on it when they don't.
But, do we really need these hoaxer guys to make it their personal mission to embarrass the news agencies who don't fact check? Well, SURE they deserve it! But aren't they already embarrassed by not fact-checking, like, every other week already? When a new story comes out that doesn't get fact-checked, and we all find out?
And, YES, I'm just bitter because I bought in! I'm the one who always sends my less Internet-savvy friends to Snopes, with a lecture about being skeptical, when they send me goofy emails about Bill Gates giving away money to everyone who forwards an email, or the giant snake that ate a boy who was camping with his friends. Hmm. Seems I haven't gotten many of those types of emails lately. I wonder why my friends would have stopped sending them to me?
posted by annekat at
3:23 PM
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