Retort: Posting Fake News Stories | Drudge Retort

Friday, February 22, 2013

Retort: Posting Fake News Stories

Retort: Fake humor stories are occasionally posted here by users from The Onion and other sites. Onion stories usually have "Onion" in the headline to indicate the source, but others are often presented as if they were real news. Recently, I began labeling these as "Satire," but I'll let users decide how to handle them. Take this poll to vote.

Posted by rcade at 02:45 PM | 41 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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Joined 2003/04/04
Visited 2013/05/23

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Poll Results

When a user posts a fake news story on the Drudge Retort from The Onion or another humor site, do you think it should be labeled as satire?

Yes -- Label Them, 12 votes (24.49%)
No -- Do Not Label Them, 25 votes (51.02%)
I Do Not Care, 12 votes (24.49%)

Comments

Admin's note: Participants in this discussion must follow the site's moderation policy. Personal attacks, profanity, abusive conduct and expressions of prejudice are not allowed. If you have comments about site moderation, contact the site publisher in email.

It's not fake if it's on FOX news,it's only a lie!

#1 | Posted by truthteller101 at 2013-02-22 03:00 PM | Reply | Flag:

don't label them! I really enjoy the faux rage then the resulting embarrassment once they actually read the articles. It is also a good lesson in verifying your sources.

#2 | Posted by donnerboy at 2013-02-22 03:03 PM | Reply | Flag:

It's also hilarious when some of us get fooled.

#3 | Posted by danni at 2013-02-22 03:09 PM | Reply | Flag:

Don't label them!! It's 'way too much fun when somebody thinks they're real.

#4 | Posted by SomebodyElse at 2013-02-22 03:26 PM | Reply | Flag:

What about stories for Breitbart.com? They seem to fool a lot of people.

#5 | Posted by DRJIMMIES at 2013-02-22 03:27 PM | Reply | Flag:

You can see where this is going.... ridiculousness....

#6 | Posted by AndreaMackris at 2013-02-22 03:32 PM | Reply | Flag:

Do let us know.

#7 | Posted by Tor at 2013-02-22 03:33 PM | Reply | Flag:

I say if people are foolish enough to believe the outrageous stories that The Onion writes, they deserve it. They should be responsible enough to verify the story before they comment on it.

#8 | Posted by rjgonzalez at 2013-02-22 03:40 PM | Reply | Flag:

Does Mitch McConnell get a vote?

www.nydailynews.com

#9 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2013-02-22 03:42 PM | Reply | Flag:

Mars Attacks, Mars Attacks... hundreds of Russians are dead or injured.

#10 | Posted by nutcase at 2013-02-22 03:48 PM | Reply | Flag:

Let the serious and sour uncover it themselves.

#11 | Posted by phesterOBoyle at 2013-02-22 03:50 PM | Reply | Flag:

You should label them. It's kind cruel if you don't. Liberals have no sense of irony and it's like picking on the kids that ride the short bus.

#12 | Posted by visitor_ at 2013-02-22 03:56 PM | Reply | Flag:

So far 8 people vote to label but don't bother to explain why they think its a good idea. How many of us have seen a headline, read a caption without checking the source, and quickly banged out a post in outrage? I'd say it's happened to all of us at least once. It's an instructive error, imo, that leads to much hilarity on one hand and a more careful reader on the other.

Though if the objective is not to inform the Retort community, but to not scare away a potential newbie then perhaps all threads should first be submitted to Moderation for approval before they are published?

#13 | Posted by Hagbard_Celine at 2013-02-22 03:59 PM | Reply | Flag:

No. Only the Chinese fall for the fake stories.

Crisis

#14 | Posted by CrisisStills at 2013-02-22 04:13 PM | Reply | Flag:

Isn't a yes vote an admission you are humor-deprived or aren't bright enough to see satire when it slaps you in the face?

#15 | Posted by nullifidian at 2013-02-22 04:21 PM | Reply | Flag:

"Isn't a yes vote an admission you are humor-deprived or aren't bright enough to see satire when it slaps you in the face?"

Yes. It's a call for a Retort on training wheels.

#16 | Posted by Hagbard_Celine at 2013-02-22 04:38 PM | Reply | Flag:

"Liberals have no sense of irony and it's like picking on the kids that ride the short bus."

That's too funny given how many rwers on this site have fallen for fake news. And given that there are more successful lefty comedians than righty comedians.

#17 | Posted by pragmatist at 2013-02-22 04:49 PM | Reply | Flag:

What about fake news blogs where your?

#18 | Posted by HeuristicGratis at 2013-02-22 04:53 PM | Reply | Flag:

Good satire takes real talent.

Which is why the few homegrown attempts here have been, well, sorely lacking. A Warning Label would have been appreciated on most of those.

#19 | Posted by Corky at 2013-02-22 05:19 PM | Reply | Flag:

The Drudge Retort began as a fake news site during the Clinton impeachment foofaraw.

#20 | Posted by rcade at 2013-02-22 05:19 PM | Reply | Flag:

Nowadays Huffpo is touted as the retort to Drudge.

You should have sold out, too, Rogers, lol.

#21 | Posted by Corky at 2013-02-22 05:21 PM | Reply | Flag:

Don't label them.

It's funny when Obamahaters use the Onion as proof of his malfeasance.

#23 | Posted by REDIAL at 2013-02-22 06:23 PM | Reply | Flag:

Where's the poll? I vote keep it off.

We get enough fake news from the politicians and corporate controlled MSM. Why perpetuate it by permitting it to be posted here? If we want comedy go to the Onion or Comedy Central. If we must interpret what's real and what isn't, we might as well watch NBC, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, etc.

I come here to get candor, reality and real feedback, not propaganda or gotcha. Gotcha news serves only to make society more queasy about what they read, ethics and honesty.

#24 | Posted by Robson at 2013-02-22 06:24 PM | Reply | Flag:

#24 | Posted by Robson at 2013-02-22 06:24 PM | Reply | Flag: Get a grip.

.

#25 | Posted by Dave at 2013-02-22 06:39 PM | Reply | Flag:

What we really need here is a restriction on ocular penetration

#26 | Posted by American1st at 2013-02-22 06:47 PM | Reply | Flag:

"I come here to get candor, reality and real feedback, not propaganda or gotcha. "

Then you're coming to the wrong place. I understand your desire, but it's not what we do. Let's be a community of political junkies, and let's poke fun gently and play with humor when we can. Otherwise, we'll all be beating each other and crying. : )

#27 | Posted by pragmatist at 2013-02-22 07:18 PM | Reply | Flag:

Label them when it borders on slander.

#28 | Posted by boaz at 2013-02-22 09:10 PM | Reply | Flag:

Don't label them.

Since we're not allowed to call the idiots idiots anymore at least allow them to reveal themselves.

#29 | Posted by jpw at 2013-02-22 09:30 PM | Reply | Flag:

And given that there are more successful lefty comedians than righty comedians.

Well how funny can you be if sex, drugs, booze, genitalia and any other "naughty" thing is off limits?

Watch Leno and you'll see what I mean.

#30 | Posted by jpw at 2013-02-22 09:31 PM | Reply | Flag:

I always find it funny to "open the present" and find out it's an Onion story. Fallen for it a couple of times and it is a learning experience. It probably helps improve the site through training.

#31 | Posted by Diablo at 2013-02-22 10:01 PM | Reply | Flag:

Wait, you mean that some of the stories aren't satire? Maybe those are the ones that should be labeled.

#32 | Posted by visitor_ at 2013-02-22 10:16 PM | Reply | Flag:

There's "fake" and then there's fake. "Fake," to me, is something from "The Onion." The other kind of fake is Breitbart's odious Hagel-Hamas fable-story. The former is satire presented as satire; the latter is a lie presented as fact. The purpose of the satire is to amuse; the purpose of the lie presented as fact is to confuse.

I've lost count the number of times I've reads posters get huffed and puffed about something from "The Onion" - a clear indication they didn't bother to click on the link in an attempt to familiarize themselves with more details before going off half-cocked. (No "fully-cocked" jokes needed in response.)

That speaks volumes about their agenda-driven commentaries as they prowl the threads operating on automatic pilot. It's also the reason some of us ask them, repeatedly, "Did you even read the story"? Because the answer - which they invariably refuse to provide - would be, "Hell, no, I didn't read the steenkin' story? Why should I read the steekin' story. Here's what I think about your steenkin' story."

I mean, seriously, is it really necessary to put up a banner proclaiming "Satire!" when posting the BBC's classic 1957 April Fool's Day spaghetti harvest "story"(www.youtube.com)?

#33 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2013-02-23 05:25 AM | Reply | Flag:

...in Switzerland, no less.

#34 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2013-02-23 05:26 AM | Reply | Flag:

I'll keep this vote open until 2:45 p.m. Eastern (24 hours after it was posted).

#35 | Posted by rcade at 2013-02-23 09:50 AM | Reply | Flag:

Sorry I missed the vote. I would have voted "don't label"... as in don't bother. Not like it would hurt anything having them labeled or some sort of sorce indication in the link to the article on the discussion page... but...

primarily not worth the priority/time of you and your team.

#36 | Posted by reitze at 2013-02-23 10:07 AM | Reply | Flag:

And given that there are more successful lefty comedians than righty comedians.
Well how funny can you be if sex, drugs, booze, genitalia and any other "naughty" thing is off limits?
Watch Leno and you'll see what I mean.
#30 | Posted by jpw at 2013-02-22 09:31 PM | Reply | Flag: NEWSWORTHY

Sorry JPW, but you're right about Leno. And after everyone here gets the concept we're not being very newsworthy any more either.

Whether by threat or encouragement, $ influences... even subtle things like mod policies and site features here. I wonder WHO is offering the $ to change the software that's been unchanged for soooo long?

#37 | Posted by reitze at 2013-02-23 10:12 AM | Reply | Flag:

SOME PEOPLE get paid to write satire.

#38 | Posted by AuntieSocial at 2013-02-23 10:20 AM | Reply | Flag:

I would have voted no. Luv the onion when it gets taken as legit.

#39 | Posted by mattm at 2013-02-23 12:33 PM | Reply | Flag:

Please elaborate by telling us the most recent lie, and proof of your accusation. Or, um, are you lying about Fox?

#40 | Posted by Wing at 2013-02-24 09:39 AM | Reply | Flag:

foxnewslies.net

#41 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2013-02-24 09:43 AM | Reply | Flag:

The tribe has spoken. I will not add labels to indicate that stories are "satire" when they are fake news.

If I promote The Onion stories to the front page, which happens occasionally when they are funny enough, I will put "Onion" in the headline. But on the back page users can do what they like with satire.

#42 | Posted by rcade at 2013-02-24 11:04 AM | Reply | Flag:

Comments are closed for this entry.

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