‘US Weekly’ Publishes Fake/Satirical Palin Story…as Real!

The Blaze ^ | 2-9-11 | Mike Opelka

[radioone]

Hot on the heels of Rachel Maddow getting duped by a satirical website post about Sarah Palin, comes US Weekly taking similar comedic bait.

[OneWingedShark]

...couldn’t this be grounds for 1) a plagiarism suit as well as 2) a defamation of character suit?

1 — given that it was stolen from a satire site,
and
2 — given that it was presented as true.

[The Unknown Republican]

Not for defamation, but a suit for libel. As a public figure Palin would have to prove the statement was published knowing it to be false or with reckless disregard to its truth. I’d say that US Weekly was reckless in not properly vetting the story...I’d take the case for sure.

[Irenic]

I think they do these things on purpose— throw it out there and hope the story sticks for chits and giggles.

[Yo-Yo]

Fake but accurate is the battle cry of the Left.

[MsLady]

Why not, everything else they do is a lie. Reminds me of those cheap rags at the grocery counter. You know the ones that have headings like, 2 Headed Baby from Outer Space Eats Cleveland. Or some other goofy headline.

[excopconservative]

I think they do these things on purpose— throw it out there and hope the story sticks for chits and giggles.

---

If 100 people read it and 2 people never hear that it didn’t happen, they’ve gained 2%. Many an election has been decided by less than 2%. Their incompetence is probably intentional. To them, it’s too good a story to pass up and please don’t tell them it’s a satire until after they’ve published. They don’t want to know that.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

I think they do these things on purpose— throw it out there and hope the story sticks for chits and giggles.

I, too, think it is on purpose. The MSM often headlines things that aren't true and corrects them a few days later in inconspicuous places on the inside pages. The "error" sticks and the truth is never seen.

Expect more of this.

[Grampa Dave]