New York Times - The Art of the Prank

June 18, 2017December 15, 2023

Comedian Lee Camp Deconstructs New York Times Hatchet Job

Lee Camp, comedian, writer and creator, host, and head writer of the comedy news show Redacted Tonight gives a propaganda tutorial based on the hatchet job The New York Times did on him. H/T to Boris.

Lee Camp: How to Write Propaganda for the NY Times””As Demonstrated in an Article About Me
by Lee Camp
Alternet.org
June 13, 2017

The comedian debunks the lies and distortions spread about him in the New York Times.

On June 7, the New York Times vomited up a hit piece on little ol” me – a guy who has been doing stand-up comedy for nearly 20 years and thought maybe that comedy could be used to inform and inspire audiences, rather than just make fun of the differences between men and women.

At first when you”re the center of a smear job, you”re annoyed and frustrated. But as I read further through the piece, I realized it was a master class in how to write propaganda for one of the most “respected” news outlets in our country. I”m actually grateful it was written about me because now I can see with my own eyes exactly how the glorious chicanery is done. I count no less than 15 lies, manipulations, and false implications in this short article, a score that even our fearless prevaricator-in-chief Donald Trump would envy.

So here now is a “How To” for writing propaganda for the New York Times, using the smear piece against me as an example. Read the full article here.

April 30, 2016December 15, 2023

The NYT Interviews Russian Pranksters Who Aren’t President of Anything

The New York Times did a phoner with two dudes posing as embattled Ukrainian President Poroshenko and indirectly give us the delightful new term “pranker.”

“Two Russian men pranked the The New York Times by giving a US journalist an interview posing as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko”
by Staff
Sputnik News
April 13, 2016

1027247581 Russian prankers [sic] Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, more commonly known as Vovan and Lexus, spoke with The New York Times journalist Carol Giacomo pretending to be Petro Poroshenko.

The prankers spoke with the journalist about the president”s business and his involvement in the recent Panama Papers leak. They assured The New York Times that Poroshenko is a law-abiding citizen who always pays all of his taxes and cares for his country.

Kuznetsov and Stolyarov went even further when after the interview they called The New York Times back and said the interview, in fact, wasn”t done with Poroshenko, but with a phony who wanted to discredit the newspaper for its recent article which called Ukraine a “corrupt swamp.”

In other words, the prankers fooled The New York Times again, this time simultaneously discrediting Poroshenko”s administration. Read more.

April 1, 2016December 15, 2023

The April Fool’s Day Parade gets the NYT Treatment

The Annual April Fool’s Day Parade has long been among Joey Skaggs’s most highly visible projects.

“A Fool’s Parade”
by Alexandra S. Levine
The New York Times
April 1, 2016

You”ve heard of the St. Patrick”s Day Parade, right?

Macy”s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Of course.

But the April Fools” Day Parade?

01NYTODAY-articleLarge

The procession is expected to file from 59th Street and Fifth Avenue down to Washington Square Park, beginning at noon, rain or shine.

Organized by the New York April Fools” Committee, the spectacle is intended to poke fun at public figures “” celebrities, politicians, executives and anyone else who has proved deserving of caricature.

“Nothing is sacred. Our satire knows no bounds,” the committee said in a statement, adding, “The Parade Committee assumes no liability for damages caused by satire.”

Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, (a look-alike, of course) leads the parade, sitting atop a ballistic missile float.

The “Hypocrisy and Democracy” float features presidential candidates yelling confusing speeches at passers-by.

And Kanye West rides the “Infinity Mirror” float, because, well, organizers think he could stare at his own reflection until the end of time.

Just kidding.

To all of the above.

The nonexistent parade is solely a fixture in the imagination of the New York artist Joey Skaggs, a prankster who creates elaborate hoaxes as a form of social activism.

He”s blasted out news releases, posted videos and has managed to get his April Fools” Day Parade website appearing near the top of search engine results.

“It”s a mystery to me how we continue to enable fools to make fools of us,” Mr. Skaggs said.

Touché.

July 30, 2012December 15, 2023

Fake Bill Keller Op-Ed Claimed by Wikileaks

Submitted by Emerson Dameron and Clark Stoeckley:

WikiLeaks claims responsibility for fake Bill Keller column, citing donation ban
by Ed Pilkington
guardian.co.uk
29 July 2012

Hoax including fake tweets and a counterfeit Times website dismissed as ‘childish prank’ by former editor Bill Keller

Bill Keller, former New York Times executive editor and current columnist, has found himself the subject of an elaborate internet hoax. Photograph: Ruth Fremson/AP
WikiLeaks, the whistleblowing site set up by Julian Assange, has claimed that it was behind the fake opinion piece circulating on the internet under the name of Bill Keller, columnist and former executive editor of the New York Times.

In a tweet, WikiLeaks said:

The organisation implied that it – or its “great supporters”, whomsoever they might be – had carried out the stunt in a bid to embarrass the Times into covering the financial blockade of WikiLeaks by US companies: Continue reading “Fake Bill Keller Op-Ed Claimed by Wikileaks”

May 12, 2011December 15, 2023

The New York Times Final Edition

Submitted by Erin:

The Final Edition, a New York Times Parody from Spinal Tap Star Tony Hendra
Vanity Fair
by Juli Weiner
May 10, 2011

Internet, meet The Final Edition, a nihilistic and deeply silly parody of The New York Times and the city it serves. The Final Edition is edited by Tony Hendra, the Spinal Tap actor, Vanity Fair contributor, and Spy and National Lampoon alumnus.

With articles about the cycling culture wars (“New Second Avenue Subway Will Include Bike Lanes“), section names that refer to the Times”s Manhattan-centric perspective (“World /U.S./SoHo“), and conspicuously sympathetic business coverage (a recurring feature spotlights the “story of a great American businessman who, despite his lack of ethics, has bravely stayed out of jail”), The Final Edition is like a very parochial Onion.

There are sly winks to journalism nerds, too: an article about Spider-Man was authored by R. W. Appleipad. There”s even a parody of Timescast, the Times”s endearingly purposeless daily video starring the paper”s reporters. (Actually, it reminds us of the trailer for Page One.) The Final Edition”s version of Timescast is anchored by Mike the Intern. “No one wanted to do this Timescast thing today,” he explains. “I could have a shot at a Pulitzer! Or better yet””get on Gawker!” Hendra plays Times executive editor Bill Keller.

The Last Timescast from The Final Edition on Vimeo.