Friday, February 5, 2010

Chapo misinformation

I just want to draw belated attention to a column on Huffington Post back in March 2009, which claimed that Chapo was thanking George W. Bush for his help in making the drug lord billions. The article (link in title) cited a confidant of Chapo's and mexican government sources.

Of course, the article is bogus; it's a humorous parody by comedy writer David Henry Stern. It's funny too, if you know it's a joke; but some of the comments by readers imply it isn't clear to them. It mixes reality with ridiculousness, which could confuse the average reader. In addition, Huffpost doesn't say at the top that David Henry Stern is a comedy writer (his bio picture is the only real clue; you just know he's not an investigative type).

I'm all for comedy in the news, I was a big fan of Chris Morris' fake columns back in the day in the UK, for instance. But I think this one was pushing it a bit far – that is, if Huffpost ever wants to be taken seriously.

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