Just what conservative media needed: another embarrassing misstep.
Breitbart.com ridiculed Paul Krugman for filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection in a since-deleted post whose claims originated with a satire website. Just last month, Breitbart.com castigated a news outlet for running with a story from that same website.
Yes, this morning, Breitbart.com, a prominent far-right news site, published a piece claiming the Nobel Laureate has filed for bankruptcy, which is not true. The report was based on a satirical item published by a humor site called the Daily Currant.
This morning, Krugman said he caught wind of the joke a few days ago, but didn’t say anything because he wanted to see “which right-wing media outlets would fall for the hoax.” Krugman added, “And Breitbart.com came through! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go give a lavishly paid speech to Friends of Hamas.”
In fairness, it’s true that some satirical items can sometimes seem true, and will occasionally trip up unsuspecting folks in media. I remember when it happened to me nine years ago, and I’m still kicking myself for getting fooled. (Of course, when I fell for a gag, I ran a correction. When Breitbart.com was wrong, it deleted the content as if it hadn’t been published.)
But the latest misstep comes against an unfortunate backdrop: the Daily Caller’s dubious Menendez scandal; Friends of Hamas; the right falling for Bob Woodward’s recent claims; “Unskewed Polls”; Malaysian propaganda, etc. Erick Erickson complained the other day, “I think conservative media is failing to advance ideas and stories. That’s true, but increasingly, they’re failing to get the basics right, too.
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