Expose the Fakes!

For Article: OJR: Decline of the Gatekeepers
E-Media Tidbits
Poynter Institute
Posted by Jane Abao 11/23/2007 7:39:31 PM

One way to combat this syndrome is to help in exposing fakes in communication efforts in as early as the inception stage. I am doing... One way to combat this syndrome is to help in exposing fakes in communication efforts in as early as the inception stage. I am doing my part here. Recently, I saw a site titled Spoof.com in the name of a certain Andrew Lawrence, of Los Angeles, CA.

Lawrence wanted to teach news writing from imagined news and he called it comedy spoof news writing. For his example, he wrote about supposed writers on strike but were not at the picket lines on Thanksgiving Day. As the supposed witness and author of the news, he chided the writers who he said to "get their asses on the picket lines." The story he wrote comes from his imagination.

Confused as to whether his piece would come out as an opinion piece or as news, he had mixed his elements.

After his piece, he wrote a disclaimer: "The story above is a satire or parody. It is entirely fictitious. If you fancy trying your hand at comedy spoof news writing, click here to join!"

Lawrence is a business man who thought of making money teaching news writing his crooked way. He wanted to make entertainment out of news writing.

The question is: How would laughter that his kind of stories may elicit, measure against a trend that would spontaneously grow out of his crooked style of news writing? Wild temporary entertainment against systematic plunder of truth?