"Rush to Air" Backfires on Baltimore TV Station

[mcscajun]

Baltimore TV Station Airs Spoof As Actual News

The news staff at a Baltimore TV station was left with egg on its collective face when the station broadcast -- at least twice on Monday -- a report that Michael Richards had appeared in blackface at a celebrity roast for Whoopi Goldberg over the weekend. The staff of WJZ-TV, a CBS affiliate, had picked up the report from DatelineHollywood.com, apparently unaware that all of its reports are intended to be satirical. The Baltimore Sun reported that the story about Richards, who was propelled into the news when he shouted racial epithets at patrons at a West Hollywood comedy club last month, was presented "in breaking news style" by the program's news anchor, Sally Thorner. The DatelineHollywood story also reported that Richards "took out a bottle of Aunt Jemima syrup and poured it over Whoopi's head," and then began singing "Mammy." News director Gail Bending told the Sun that the report "should not have aired" and that the station would broadcast a correction. In 1993 Goldberg caused an uproar at a Friars' Club roast when she wrote a routine for her then-boyfriend Ted Danson that he delivered in blackface.

http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2006-12-05/#3

Proving once again that fact-checking is a lost art in the world of 24/7 news, and reading comprehension is a dying skill.

[cynatnite]

1. If I type it, will they report it?

George Bush was found with three hookers, 10 grams of coke, two midgets and six farm animals in a Las Vegas motel room. As he was dragged away wearing only black pumps, he was heard to be crying for his mother.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. HOLY COW!! I hadn't heard that--

Wait til I tell everyone at work!

[mtnester]

4. And if you can get Swamp Rat to do you a pic showing GW

being dragged away in only black pumps...well then...it MUST be true!

[mcscajun]

8. Seems like all you need is a bit more detail, and a well-named blog

that someone at a TV station can find. :evilgrin:

[originalpckelly]

3. OMG! How stupid are these people?

:rofl:

And to think, it's there job to figure out what's going in the world.

[mcscajun]

9. I dunno. I think it's like asking "How high is high?"

It's symptomatic of a general decline over the years, coupled with braineless, attractive newsreaders replacing old-style journalists.

Short answer: Very.

[lectrobyte]

5. I think a couple of The Onion pieces have made the real news, too,

so funny when that happens.

[mcscajun]

10. I know the editors of The Onion are happy about it.

All publicity is good publicity, and all that.. :)

[Ian David]

6. Can Dan Rather have his old job back now? n/t

[deepthought42]

7. Damn!

I knew I should've watched the local news! :rofl:

[mcscajun]

11. You'd have spit up your coffee, for sure!

If I'd seen it, there'd be O.J. everywhere. :)

[deepthought42]

12. I would never spit up my coffee...

unless it wasn't that good to being with. I'm an addict. LOL...

[mcscajun]

13. Pardonnez-moi. I would never mean for you to lose something

that important to you. :)