by Frank James revised
All right, this gets a little confusing so try and stay with me on this.
I had a earlier posting with the headline "Palin deserves an Africa-hoax apology."
The thrust of that posting was that Carl Cameron of Fox News and others, including me, were victims of a hoax that involved a story that Gov. Sarah Palin didn't know Africa was a continent. The earlier posting suggested that it was a hoax that Palin didn't know Africa was a continent.
The posting was based on a story in today's New York Times that reported that reported on a hoax associated with the Palin story. After reading the story, it's easy to come away believing that whole Palin-Africa thing was a hoax.
But the hoax the Times reported on has to do with a prankster, a faux "McCain adviser," popping up and claiming credit for the Africa anecdote.
That "adviser" was fictional. MSNBC on Monday reported that Cameron got his information from the prankster. Once it realized its mistake, it reported that was not the case.
A Fox News spokeswoman tells me that the channel stands by Cameron's report that people associated with the McCain campaign told Fox News that Palin didn't know Africa was a continent.
Cameron never said his source was the hoaxer in the Times story, she said. A journalist colleague has also told me he overheard Cameron say during the campaign that McCain campaign insiders were telling him that Palin wasn't as knowledgeable as one might expect, to put it politely.
So, in other words, the hoax in question was on MSNBC, not Fox.
Unless it can be proven that Cameron was wrong, he and Fox apparently deserve an apology from me for what I wrote earlier.
At this point, I can't tell whether Palin deserves an apology or not on this. My head is starting to hurt.
The original post is below so that you can see the earlier, now dubious version.
-------------------------------------------------------
Who knew you couldn't trust what Fox News Channel reports?
Last week, I wrote that Fox News reporter Carl Cameron reported on air that he heard from a McCain campaign source or sources that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin didn't know that Africa was a continent.
I passed that along because Cameron indicated that a source or sources within the McCain campaign told him or other members of Fox's news team that Palin revealed what would have been a stunning bit of ignorance.
But it appears Cameron was taken in by a hoax which means that anyone who relied on his reporting was misled, myself included.
The New York Times has a story which spells out what happened.
It was among the juicier post-election recriminations: Fox News Channel quoted an unnamed McCain campaign figure as saying that Sarah Palin did not know that Africa was a continent.
Who would say such a thing? On Monday the answer popped up on a blog and popped out of the mouth of David Shuster, an MSNBC anchor. "Turns out it was Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, who has come forward today to identify himself as the source of the leaks," Mr. Shuster said.
Trouble is, Martin Eisenstadt doesn't exist. His blog does, but it's a put-on. The think tank where he is a senior fellow -- the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy -- is just a Web site. The TV clips of him on YouTube are fakes.
And the claim of credit for the Africa anecdote is just the latest ruse by Eisenstadt, who turns out to be a very elaborate hoax that has been going on for months. MSNBC, which quickly corrected the mistake, has plenty of company in being taken in by an Eisenstadt hoax, including The New Republic and The Los Angeles Times.
Now a pair of obscure filmmakers say they created Martin Eisenstadt to help them pitch a TV show based on the character. But under the circumstances, why should anyone believe a word they say?
"That's a really good question," one of the two, Eitan Gorlin, said with a laugh.
I apologize to Palin that I unwittingly passed along this misinformation and I apologize to readers I misled in turn.
My mistake was I assumed that since it was Cameron and Fox News, of all news channels, reporting this about a Republican campaign, that it must be credible since Fox is widely held to be more openly sympathetic to Republicans and conservatives than other news channels.
Boy, was I ever wrong.
• 
Comments
Sarah Palin is turning out to be a greater American ever day-
Posted by: Inky | November 13, 2008 9:37 AM
Might want to double check this . . . MSNBC is apologizing for identifying this guy as Carl Cameron's source for the Palin/Africa information, but as of yet, no one has suggested that the information itself as reported by Cameron on O'Reilly was false.
Posted by: Tom | November 13, 2008 9:42 AM
Frank James admits he was taken in by an anti-GOP hoax....
And shouldn't Swamper Mark Silva, who also headlined this hoax, apologize?
Neither of them bothered to check this hoax out. And they wonder why they aren't trusted.......
Posted by: Regime Change | November 13, 2008 9:43 AM
After the Muslim e-mail BS, I couldn't care less about this. The whole republican campaign was built on this type of stuff. Hows it feel?
Posted by: bill r. | November 13, 2008 9:58 AM
Does anyone even care about this simple minded hockey hillbilly any more? Her shelf expiration date has passed and she should be removed.
Posted by: Jeff | November 13, 2008 10:46 AM
Rumor has it that Sarah Palin is now launching her very own online shopping website (called YouBetcha.com). Full story here: http://is.gd/7lns
Posted by: zenboy | November 13, 2008 10:51 AM
According to the AP this morning: "The hoax was limited to the identity of the source in the Palin story -- not the story itself. While Palin has denied she'd mistaken Africa for a country, the accuracy of that report was not put in question by the revelation that Eisenstadt is a phony."
Posted by: Lindy | November 13, 2008 11:01 AM
Does the media really think it's going to regain its credibility with this mea culpa? Do Obama supporters think it's fair to tell lies about opponents because some neanderthals told lies about Obama? Do people who continue to disparage Governor Palin have no shame?
Posted by: Bemused | November 13, 2008 11:33 AM
MSNBC is not a news channel but rather an extension of the Drmocratic National Committee. Chris Matthews admitted on the Morning Joe show that he is not a journalist but rather an Obama booster.
Therefore anything stated on MSNBC should be taken with a grain of salt because it probably not factual!
Posted by: Pat H | November 13, 2008 11:37 AM
When is Palin going to apologize for all the lies she told during the campaign??
Posted by: mort | November 13, 2008 11:48 AM
Do Obama supporters think it's fair to tell lies about opponents because some neanderthals told lies about Obama? Do people who continue to disparage Governor Palin have no shame?
Posted by: Bemused | November 13, 2008 11:33 AM
Absolutely! Now you're worried about fair? A little late to the party aren't you? Miss "palling around with terrorists" is getting everything she deserves.
Posted by: bill r. | November 13, 2008 12:07 PM
Therefore anything stated on MSNBC should be taken with a grain of salt because it probably not factual!
Posted by: Pat H | November 13, 2008 11:37 AM
HMMMM......funny.....I heard it on Faux News first.
Posted by: bill r. | November 13, 2008 12:10 PM
Voting for Johnny Mac or Obama was like voting for DUMB & DUMBER...No Win,
Sarah Palin could be the first woman President in four years.
Her platform will be on the Economy and Africa has nothing to do with that.
McCain is a hard worker with a very low IQ...Obama is supposed to have a Genius IQ..That is an outright lie!
If you want to play the IQ game (Not the stupid Menza Group) Mine is certified by the US Government @ 165+
All Sarah Palin has to do is call me and I will guarantee her 65% of the Middle Class votes. Obama was too arrogant to call.
Posted by: GENE A VAUGHN | November 13, 2008 12:23 PM
If you want to play the IQ game (Not the stupid Menza Group) Mine is certified by the US Government @ 165+
All Sarah Palin has to do is call me and I will guarantee her 65% of the Middle Class votes. Obama was too arrogant to call.
Posted by: GENE A VAUGHN | November 13, 2008 12:23 PM
Ted Kaczynski Had a great IQ also. If you believe Palin is the most qualified, I certainly would get your money back from the government for your IQ test.
Posted by: bill r. | November 13, 2008 12:47 PM
Admission of wrongdoing followed by an apology is certainly a step in the right direction.
However, the poison pill has been swallowed by too many " want-to-be-believers in everything bad about Palin so it will take more than a mere sorry to set the record straight for them. (You need to be working on damage control! Undo your slander/defamation of character for starters).
As for the rest of us, thank goodness we never bought into the disparaging of or participated in the witch hunt for Sarah Palin and her family.
The future will be bright for this gifted Govenor and we are waiting with open arms!
Posted by: Dani | November 13, 2008 1:12 PM
Neither of them bothered to check this hoax out. And they wonder why they aren't trusted.......
Posted by: Regime Change | November 13, 2008 9:43 AM
Frank James trusted Fox News, and if you can't trust Fox News with a story about Republicans by a Republican, then who can you trust?
Posted by: BC | November 13, 2008 2:11 PM
Not sure it really makes a whole lot of difference either way.
.
If she truly didn't know Africa was a continent, then nobody's surprised.
.
If it turns out she DID know, then I'll be as quick to reverse my opinion of her as she was to reverse her statements about Obama being best buds with terrorists. Apparently, it doesn't matter what the truth is; the important thing is what makes the best story.
.
Whichever, the woman's back in Alaska where she belongs (and we can deal with her afresh should she decide the country is in need of her services in 2012) and the whole campaign needs to be behind us.
Posted by: Op109 | November 13, 2008 2:17 PM
It's not the leaks about Governor Palin's alleged ignorance about Africa, etc., that do damage to her reputation.
If people are inclined to think this could be true, it's because they've already formed an opinion about the Governor's knowledge.
In Governor Palin, I saw a candidate who went out in public to convince voters to support John McCain's candidacy, without first taking the time to understand what his positions were. I thought that was inexcusable.
In Governor Sarah Palin, I saw a candidate who kept talking about reform and 'shaking up' the federal government, yet she didn't seem to know anything about current national issues. How can you reform what you don't understand? How can you judge what needs to be reformed and what is working well already? On energy policy which the Governor says she's an expert on, I heard no new proposals or ideas from her.
Did anyone else?
She only said she thinks we ought to be extracting more oil and gas from Alaska, but that's neither a new idea or her original idea. But more to the point, it doesn't address our long term energy dependency issues. She offered no ideas on our long term enery dependency issues.
In Governor Palin, I saw a candidate who often simply refused to answer substantive questions when asked.
Lastly, now that the campaign's over, Sarah Palin is all over the talk shows, but I've still not heard one proposal or idea that she has about addressing any of the national issues we're facing today.
In short, and based on what I've heard from the Governor herself, I don't think she's qualified for national office because:
-She doesn't have the necessary world or national knowledge
-By her actions, she appears to put her personal ambitions ahead of what might be best for both the country and the republican party.
- Last but certainly not least, there are a number of qualified Governors, etc., who will probably be vying for the 2012 Republican nomination.
I've seen what Sarah Palin has to offer, and I think this country can do a lot better.
Posted by: Deb Hart | November 13, 2008 2:51 PM
Can't she just go back to Alaska and stay there for a while? I'm suffering from Palin fatigue.
Posted by: Quippy | November 13, 2008 3:28 PM
Ok, I admit to tooting my own horn here, but since no one else is tooting it ... ;)
It's been very interesting for me to watch this all play out. Since June, you could Google the name "Martin Eisenstadt" you'd immediately find posts I wrote debunking him. It took a little while for me to put it all together, but like I said, by June I had it figured that he was a hoax/parody and contacted SourceWatch about it.
Now here's my point: Since this whole thing erupted, I've had one person contact me - the guy from the NY Times. I think that I could have been sort of helpful to those like you, who immediately jumped to the conclusion that the whole "Africa" thing was a hoax created by Eisenstadt. I knew from the get-go that was an illogical jump being made.
Anyway, I'm not demanding attention (oh, wait, it looks like I am ;) This story now is about Team Eisenstadt and how they so easily fooled everyone and the work they did to do it.
But part of that story is the lack of curiosity of the media and blogosphere, and the tendency to run opinion as fact without checking sources.
cheers,
Bill
Posted by: William K. Wolfrum | November 13, 2008 4:25 PM
Gov. Palin seems to be a bright, articulate woman. The leftist media has pilloried her unmercifully, yet she has stood strong. The fact remains that at this point she still has more governing experience than McCain, Biden, or The One. In four years, should she remain governor, she will have even more.
If The One was good enough to become President-elect, with less than 150 days in the U.S. Senate, surley some of you haters can cut her some slack in four years, should she decide to run.
Posted by: Lawrence | November 13, 2008 5:28 PM
"Gov. Palin seems to be a bright, articulate woman."
Aaahahahahahahaha! Good one!
Posted by: Anupam Kher | November 14, 2008 7:04 AM
"Sarah Palin is turning out to be a greater American ever day-"
Ohhhhhhhhh! What you just said....
Take that back before she decides to jump ship and immigrate to the UK.
Posted by: t bone | November 14, 2008 8:43 PM
"We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease."
-- George W. Bush
http://normdoering.blogspot.com/2008/11/yet-more-evidence-that-right-wing.html
Posted by: Norman Doering | November 15, 2008 5:54 AM
That anyone believes such drivel is an indication of how incredibly people are, or maybe just how partisan. It's simply ludicrous to assume for a minute that someone in her position is that ignorant of basic geography. Even 1st graders know that much. Personally, I attribute the continual circulation of such tripe as a continued attempt to portray her as a bumpkin who doesn't know her ABC's. Enough of it, already!
Posted by: Glennis | November 15, 2008 7:44 AM
Hey t-bone - Sarah won't go to the UK because we are all evil
"socialists" LOL!
Posted by: going2hope4better | November 16, 2008 3:31 PM
Referring to some of the posts, I woulds say to those who say the matter is not important, would you think it important if someone was telling lies about you?
To those who still wish she had said it, even though it was found to be a hoax, I say, "You poor people." To Frank James, I say, "What is so confusing? Also, next time ask for names of sources.
Posted by: Juanita | November 17, 2008 8:27 PM
Cameron professionalism is so poor that I believe Goofy can be a much more serious reporter than this clawn called "Cameron".
Posted by: Roberto | November 17, 2008 9:28 PM