NOT THE SHARPEST KNIVES IN THE DRAWER: The Media Get Punked (Yet Again)
The Washington Post’s often droll but not always original (last item) Dana Milbank writes about the latest media hoax perpetrated by a group of liberal activists known as the Yes Men, led by Andy Bichlbaum (AKA Jacques Servin and Mike Bonanno (AKA Igor Vamos):
A group of liberal activists called the Yes Men made up a Web site (http://chamber-of-commerce.us instead of the real http://uschamber.com) and e-mailed fake news releases announcing that the business lobby had suddenly changed its view on global warming. It used a bogus name to rent a room at the National Press Club and stuck the Chamber's logo on a lectern as it made the phony announcement to a group of reporters - some actors and some real.
"Reporters" claiming to be from the "Herald Tribune" and the "Express News" sat down among the real reporters, including The Post's David A. Fahrenthold. Andy Bichlbaum, one of the Yes Men, posed as suit-wearing Chamber spokesman Hingo Sembra (not a real person) and delivered the "news" that was also sent out as a "statement" by Chamber President Tom Donahue.
About 20 minutes into this performance, a real Chamber spokesman, tipped off by the press club and a reporter to the fake event, burst into the room.
"This is not an official U.S. Chamber of Commerce event," Eric Wohlschlegel declared, introducing himself and making his way to the lectern. "This is a fraudulent press activity and a stunt." …
There were clues, of course, such as the name of the Chamber "spokeswoman" listed in the original news release: Erica Avidus. Reporters and bloggers later figured out that "avidus" comes from a Latin word meaning greedy.
But in an instant news culture, who has time to check out such things?
Um, it took The Stiletto less than five seconds to find this.
Editorial Note: About a week ago, The Stiletto and The Heel went to the Film Forum for a screening of “The Yes Men Fix The World,” a documentary about the group’s various hoaxes. During the Q&A that followed, The Heel pointed out that conservative activists James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles essentially used the techniques that the Yes Men had pioneered to bring down ACORN, and asked Bichlbaum and Bonanno why none of their stunts has had such a big payoff. They both agreed that the pimp suit and halter top made all the difference, and Bonanno wondered whether the same get-ups could help them “get Congress to defund the corporations whose crimes we've uncovered?”
Curiously, another member of the audience confidently asserted that “no conservative” would ever see this film. Yet, there were two in the audience that The Stiletto knew about! Anonymity does have its price …
I know nothing about the Yes Men, but their fake press conference is not the same thing as the ACORN tapes. (It may be that the Yes Men sneaking into business meetings would be the same as the ACORN tapes.) In the ACORN thing, the duo uses ACORN employees' own words. In the press conference, the Yes Men lie. What they did was more like the Bush National Guard story that CBS ran. We are well into "fake but accurate" territory here and as far as I am concerned, the C of C should consider a lawsuit for defamation or some such thing. It's like having to take my shoes off at the airport. One person ruins it for everyone else.
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