LA Times Burned By Fake Press Release (Wizbang)

Newspapers are filled with carpal-tunneled wretches, overworked and underpaid, who suffer near-pathological allegiance to getting it right. *

Tuesday's cover story in The Los Angeles Times, by Times Staff Writer Julie Cart, on the on the plight of federally protected Canadian gray wolves contains a bombshell quote from Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

But now, as the Fish and Wildlife Service ponders a delisting plan that would turn over management of the wolves to the states, federal officials are balking at plans they fear would allow hunters to exterminate whole packs.
In Wyoming, for example, Gov. Dave Freudenthal last April decreed that the Endangered Species Act is no longer in force and that the state "now considers the wolf as a federal dog," unworthy of protection. The governor's declaration reflects the views of hunters and ranchers that the wolves are decimating elk herds and devouring cattle and sheep. Some rural residents say they fear that wolves may prey on children.

The problem is that it doesn't take much Google Fu to find out that Cart's source was an April Fools forum posting. Prior to the Tuesday story a search for the phrase "now considers the wolf as a federal dog" showed the original source (eco.freedom) as the top search result.

Here's what the LA Times says about the error now.

The statement, which was circulated on the Internet, was purportedly from Freudenthal but was in fact a hoax.

Surely there must be some bar that a story would need to cross to go from "buried on the Internet" to "circulated on the Internet." The Times assertion that this statement was circulated is a serious stretch in that as of Monday Dec. 26th it appeared in just 4 unique places (eco.freedom, kifaru.net, archeryworld.com, and baitshopboyz.com) on the great big Internet. This wasn't a "circulating press release" such as those via established newswires, or even a viral story spreading via e-mail. No this was a bit of long forgotten information buried in the corners of the Internet.

Amazingly the header of the original piece at eco.freedom failed to raise any red flags.

Something for April Fools Day...
if only it were true
Wyoming Governor tells feds to go to Hell
As reported by Mauricio Jonez

News Release, Cheyenne, Wyoming, April 1, 2005

Of course not all of the sites where message was reposted contained the heading, but most of them contained the footer...

In a related story to the Wyoming Governor's Official Declaration, Hell froze over.

Look for the LA Times to run with that scoop in the Times Calendar section this weekend...

The story of the fake quote started in The Casper Star Tribune then jumped to the AP wire. Here's what the Times is saying about the error.

Los Angeles Times deputy metro editor David Lauter called the error unfortunate. "We hate when this kind of thing happens, and we correct it as quickly as we can," he said.

"The reporter saw it on the Internet and had talked to the governor in the past, so she was familiar enough with the way he talks and writes that she thought it sounded authentic and she didn't check, which she should have," Lauter said.

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Comments (8)

Shouldn't that be feral dog... (Below threshold)

1. Posted by Jeff Feagles | December 29, 2005 11:52 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Jeff Feagles:

Shouldn't that be feral dog? What the hell is a federal dog? Just proves that most journalists are not smart.

Posted on December 29, 2005 11:52

It must be either the mesca... (Below threshold)

2. Posted by machs | December 29, 2005 12:42 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

machs:

It must be either the mescal or mushrooms in CA. Awesome production work, though.

However, I'm worried about wolf states rights. And the badger, too. See how Michigan is handling the new guidelines, which may lead to destruction of badger habitat.

Posted on December 29, 2005 12:42

I was looking for some good... (Below threshold)

3. Posted by Tom | December 29, 2005 3:50 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Tom:

I was looking for some good leftist material to rebutt at my site when I came across that piece. I read it and nearly decided to delete the LA Times from my bookmarks because I couldn't believe they could be so stupid.
I didn't research it but there were too many "dumb" things quoted and said to be valid.
And yeah it should be feral not federal. I could speculate as to what a federal dog is.

Posted on December 29, 2005 15:50

I sorta' took the "federal ... (Below threshold)

4. Posted by -S- | December 29, 2005 3:58 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

-S-:

I sorta' took the "federal dog" lapse to be someone's Timmah moment...it's bait to see if anyone's actually READING because, quite obviously, it's supposed to be "feral dog" but the "federal dog" glitch is a bit like a bear trap to capture readers.

I hope so, anyway.

Why am I not surprised about the rest of the issue here...the L.A. Times, the dedicated lack of humor, inability to see past pretense, inability to appreciate lack of pretense. Pretty much sums up most intense, traditional media.

Posted on December 29, 2005 15:58

I'm wondering if any blogge... (Below threshold)

5. Posted by McGehee | December 29, 2005 5:44 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

McGehee:

I'm wondering if any bloggers got to the real story before I did.

Heh.

Posted on December 29, 2005 17:44

Better keep them tha... (Below threshold)

6. Posted by macofromoc | December 29, 2005 8:44 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

macofromoc:

Better keep them thar reporters from reain' Scrappleface.

Posted on December 29, 2005 20:44

I wonder what the percentag... (Below threshold)

7. Posted by epador | December 29, 2005 11:07 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

epador:

I wonder what the percentage of reporters claim Workman's Comp for carpal tunnel is at the LA Times, from the looks of things, they shouldn't be breaking the bank...

Posted on December 29, 2005 23:07

Interestingly enough, the S... (Below threshold)

8. Posted by Adam | January 1, 2006 12:21 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Adam:

Interestingly enough, the Sunday (Jan.1) Arkansas Democrat-Gazette re-ran the story with this version of the offending paragraph(s):

Link is subscription only - http://www.ardemgaz.com/ShowStoryTemplate.asp?Path=ArDemocrat/2006/01/01&ID=Ar01000&Section=National

But now, as the Fish and Wildlife Service ponders a delisting plan that would turn over management of the wolves to the states, federal officials are balking at procedures they fear would allow hunters to exterminate whole packs.
In Wyoming, for example, Gov. Dave Freudenthal last April decreed that the Endangered Species Act is no longer in force. The governor’s declaration reflects the views of hunters and ranchers that the wolves are decimating elk herds and devouring cattle and sheep. Some rural residents say they fear wolves might prey on children.

Posted on January 1, 2006 12:21

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