Apparently the man who spread the word that McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin didn’t know Africa was a continent, is a comedian. “Martin Eisenstadt” is no adviser to John McCain but rather a talented comedian. The New York Times did a big expose, revealing that Eisenstadt is really Eitan Gorlin, who perpetuated the hoax with fellow filmmaker Dan Mirvish.

There are two things about this story that are interesting: people thought it plausible that Palin didn’t know that Africa is a continent. And, now, Palin has more reason to disbelieve and hate the press. (Although this week she is certainly not doing much hating. She’s having a real love-in with the press.)

My colleague, Simon Shear said: This is the Onion made real, somebody’s really making fake news!”
Here is an extract from the New York Times story:

Fox News Channel quoted an unnamed McCain campaign figure as saying that Sarah Palin did not know that Africa was a continent.

Who would say such a thing? On Monday the answer popped up on a blog and popped out of the mouth of David Shuster, an MSNBC anchor. “Turns out it was Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, who has come forward today to identify himself as the source of the leaks,” Mr. Shuster said.

Trouble is, Martin Eisenstadt doesn’t exist. His blog does, but it’s a put-on. The think tank where he is a senior fellow — the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy — is just a Web site. The TV clips of him on YouTube are fakes.

And the claim of credit for the Africa anecdote is just the latest ruse by Eisenstadt, who turns out to be a very elaborate hoax that has been going on for months. MSNBC, which quickly corrected the mistake, has plenty of company in being taken in by an Eisenstadt hoax, including The New Republic and The Los Angeles Times.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.