ABC NEWS MAKES UP MEMO FROM WH PRESS SECRETARY

[kpete]

Sorry about this DU, seems like I was TRICKED Big time

My question is WHY?

ABC News makes up memo from White House press secretary

Kpete

LINK: http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/New_White_House_press_secretarys_memo_0504.html
Correction

Earlier today, RAW STORY linked to a story by ABC News which purported to be a memo from the new White House press secretary Tony Snow. ABC News has confirmed the memo was intended as satire, though no indication was made on the story.

An ABC spokesman confirmed the memo was satire in a response to an email query.

"The Note is our daily political newsletter, which is also available on our site. I often send out popular and original stories from our web site (not press releases)," ABC News Media Relations spokeswoman Megan Mollman said. "The memo was a satire."

The Note occasionally provides satire pieces, though this was the first RAW STORY received from ABC that wasn't real news. Some bloggers have picked up the memo as real.

[Catherine Vincent]

What?

The one about Snow being a gigolo?

[rodeodance]

1. what are you talking about?

[eleny]

8. here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1100545

[meegbear]

2. What are you talking about?

Links? Info?

[senseandsensibility]

3. ?

More info please. I did read the original post.

[senseandsensibility]

4. dupe

sorry

[Richard Steele]

5. So we know it's a fake now?

LINKS, we need LINKS!!

[Norquist Nemesis]

6. Need more details...how do you know, who made it up? n/t

[asthmaticeog]

7. Link? Evidence?

If this is just based on some freeper's say-so, bugger off. Otherwise, back up your claim.

[hang a left]

9. that explanation at the link is very stinky.

Anyone else smell it?

[Tiggeroshii]

10. Why did they do that?

much incompetence on their part...

[Norquist Nemesis]

15. Or an attempt to smear Larissa

A hit job on RawStory...the first to report Plame being covert CIA agent that the WH knew was covert CIA Agent.

[NYCGirl]

21. ABC's "The Note" has been doing this kind of stuff for years. Raw Story

fell for this one, that's all.

[Tuesday_Morning]

44. what else have they done like this?

[NYCGirl]

45. Check it out for yourself. I unsubscribed about a year ago. Too much snark

There are archives here:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=156238

Here's an example from the 12/15/05 issue (and it's the first one I looked at), but they do give the joke away in this one:

Designing an exit poll questionnaire when there are 7,000 candidates on the ballot isn't effortless. And let's just say that in Iraq, the issues matrix is sort of complex too.

We don't normally cover elections in other countries that much in The Note, but the Bush White House and the Gang of 500 have a lot riding on the outcome of today's Iraqi election, so we sold off some of our vintage, eBay-ready Note Notebooks (from the 2004 glory years) and raised enough cash to spring for an exit poll in today's election. (Note to the literal-minded who want to ruin our holiday season: this is a joke.)


http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=1409645

[Norquist Nemesis]

11. Links from original thread...here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1100545&mesg_id=1101332

[Dora]

12. Can the other thread be deleted?

Seems reasonable to delete it from GD.

[NYCGirl]

13. I can't believe that Raw Story fell for that. Half of the stuff in

"The Note" from ABC is joking.

[kpete]

18. Raw Story did not fall for it -

They wanked it right away,

I fell for it

Kpete - and it smarts...

[NYCGirl]

23. I have no idea how fast they figured it out. But they did print it

originally, no?

[charlie]

32. Yeah, they fell for it

They weren't the first, Americablog got zinged by an earlier prank:

http://www.wonkette.com/politics/failed-parody/

Sometimes you've just gotta temper that zeal to "scoop" if you don't want to be punked.

[NYCGirl]

35. And the one you cite was from the same source — You're right, these

guys have to be a little more thorough. A scoop is worth nothing if it's not real.

:hi:

[stillcool]

51. you mean like this?

Lobbying reform:
The Washington Post's Jeffrey Birnbaum contrasts the promises made with the actual measures in the lobbying reform bills passed by the House and Senate and concludes "neither version is as tough on lobbyists and lawmakers as Republican leaders promised in January, after former GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe public officials in a major political corruption scandal." LINK

Birnbaum also provides an excellent primer on which portions of the final law could have different rules for the House and Senate and which provisions must be the same for both chambers.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the ethics measure passed narrowly by the House preserves some of the most talked-about perks, including corporate jet travel. Now the House will try and reconcile the bill with the more aggressive version the Senate passed.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/print?id=156238&cacheKill=318544

[Skinner]

14. Doh!

LOL

[kpete]

16. Skinner

can you delete it for me

I am not LOL!

[Richard Steele]

24. No, leave it up with a disclaimer and link to the new info!

This should still be seen, but in proper context.

This phoney "leaked eMail" is either a deliberate misinformation campaign,
or proof of utter INCOMPETENCE at ABC.(for failing to tell us it was satire)

Either way, people should know about it.

[Richard Steele]

17. Intended as satire, or misinformation to make the Web look foolish?

Seems kinda ODD that a major Network would
just suddenly plant an Onion-style piece amongst
their "real" news and not think to label it as such.

[NYCGirl]

19. They do it all the time. They think it makes them more "cutting edge."

Edited to add: I ended up unsubscribing from ABC's "The Note" (which is where this was) because I was tired of the snarkiness — I just wanted some political news.

[Richard Steele]

27. Thanks for that info.

I am not at all familiar with "the Note";
if they do this stuff all the time, do they normally
label it as "fake" in any way?

[NYCGirl]

29. No, they don't label it. But if the stuff is really "out there" and no one

else is running it, it's "satirical."

[Richard Steele]

38. "I have questions...DU has answers" Thanks again! nm

[KansDem]

26. Remember the "Kerry is a metrosexual" story on Fox News?

It was supposedly "satire"

The Fox News website had a clearly faked newswire story on the morning of October 1st, after the first Bush-Kerry debate. The story was taken down several hours later, but a few people were quick enough to take screen capture pictures of it. Fox News intensely chastised CBS news over its coverage of Bush evading duties with the Texas national Guard, even calling for Dan Rather to resign, yet this clearly fraudulent story might be more egregious in its intent.

http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/10/1697272.php

[Richard Steele]

33. Yup. I expect that crap from FauxNews...

But ABC?

I'm being told that "The Note" actually runs a lot of satire like this,
but I'm still wondering if they usually label it as such.

[leftofthedial]

20. you could tell this was fake

not even snow job would rely on king george's "quick wit" as part of a "strategery"

[rocktivity]

22. What's a news organization doing handing out satire?

Doing "lighter side of the news" or "oddball" stories is one thing. But why would they put out something that could become a direct stab at their credibility? Was this an attempt to discredit the blogs now that Net Neutrality is an issue? Yep, I think you're right--it was a deliberate trick. What would make them fabricate a note from the Bush White House unless, of course, The Note had their blessing?

:shrug:
rocknation

[NYCGirl]

25. It's ABC's "blog", "The Note". They've been doing this kind of stuff for

a few years.

[bullimiami]

28. abc news is like the onion, but not funny.

[kpete]

30. I am PISSED!

The memo: Raw Story, Kos diarist, Huffington fall for joke...
ABC NEWS MADE UP BUSH PRESS SEC. MEMO...

http://www.rawstory.com/

[WI_DEM]

31. The Note often does this sort of thing.

[Me.]

34. Now If You Were KKK

You'd whisper that the story was actually true but the WH made ABC say that it was false. And you'd keep it up until the only question reporters were willing to ask Snow is why he sold himself out so cheaply. You'd also pay to plant, that is, stories about Snow having a long history of gigoloism, with his last tryst being over at Faux.

*shadow government*

[Catherine Vincent]

36. Don't let it get you down, kpete.

No big deal.

[EVDebs]

37. Anything But Credible ? Is this what ABC stands for ? n/t

[jsamuel]

39. were they trying to be funy like Colbert?

[NYCGirl]

40. They've been doing it since 2002. NT

[Name removed]

41. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[NYCGirl]

42. Looks like Huffington Post still has it up as of 2:15 EST. NT

[stillcool]

43. this happens all the time?...

then ABC, has removed any doubt of journalistic integrity. Screw the lot of them....I can not understand why anyone would be so nonchalent about horseshit being sent out as a 'daily political newsletter', by a major network news agency. I guess this is the new normal....what one should expect...a big joke.

[wryter2000]

46. I wondered about it

But it didn't seem funny enough to be satire. Someone needs to take some lessons from Colbert.

[NYCGirl]

49. I thought the Hillary Swank/Chad Lowe reference was the giveaway. NT

[electron_blue]

47. Oh!!!!!! That explains it. So this is how they're covering it up?

How much $ do you think ABC was paid to claim that this was all satire.

[Zodiak]

48. If it is satire

it is not very good satire.

[Left Coast Lynn]

50. Raw, you look ridiculous

Really, it was so obviously satire. Whoever at Raw Story actually thought this read like anything but satire is in the wrong field. And then to try to spin it as the source's fault?

Laugh at yourself, Raw. You've done great stuff, but when you screw up like this, just laugh.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

53. Maybe that was the point. I like Raw's work, I think I will send them

Another donation...kepping up with all the stuff that goes down is noble work!

Thank you Raw Story.

[dogday]

52. I am not surprised by this

another "Dan Rather memo"