Truth or Fiction? Some days the line's a little blurry...

[jaunthie]

Quick "news savvy" quiz: Read the article below, and then answer the question.

The article:

Half Of Nation Outraged At New, Not-Yet-Released Michael Moore Film
June 18, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC—Though the film isn't scheduled for release until June 29, a New York Times/CBS News poll found that nearly half the nation believes Michael Moore's new health care documentary Sicko is "unpatriotic," "disgusting," and "ill-informed."

"This film is absolutely tasteless and misguided, and I can't believe theaters are even showing it," said GOP presidential candidate Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), who, along with the rest of the nation, has not yet seen the film. "I thought the role of a documentary filmmaker was to be objective, but moviegoers are going to leave the theater thinking that there is something wrong with some part of the United States, and that is just flat-out untrue."

The other half of the nation has praised Sicko, calling it a "real eye-opener" that would "challenge people's preconceived notions."

The Question:

Poll #18170 Is this news article...

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 0

View Respondents

Is the above news article:

View Answers

A. From a widely distributed daily newspaper (for example, the New York Times)
0 (0.0%)

B. From a widely read internet news site (for example, CNN.com)
0 (0.0%)

C. From a relatively small, local newspaper (for example, the Tacoma News-Tribune)
0 (0.0%)

D. Completely fake
0 (0.0%)

If you answered D, give yourself a big pat on the back. This article is from The Onion, and is a complete fabrication for humorous purposes.

Scary thing is, if I hadn't read it there first...I doubt I would have been able to tell. Could you have? Did you?

Comments

[tangerinpenguin.livejournal.com]

The Brownback quote was the giveaway, specifically the reference to "some part" of the United States. Even at their most tongue-tied, I think any of the current candidates would either know that it was criticizing the American health system and say so, or would be even more ambiguous and just talk about it as criticizing the US in general.

[jaunthie.livejournal.com]

You have a lot more faith in the general glibness and intelligence of the current field of presidential candidates than I do. ;-) I agree that the quote would be more convincing if they'd said "a part" instead of "some part", but it's well within the general grammatical goofiness of the folks in question.

[tangerinpenguin.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, up until that turn of phrase, I was thinking mainstream press. Even with it, I had to stare at it and game it a bit. I have no problem seeing an almost identical article appear for real, very soon.

Which I can't say I find especially encouraging.

[monkeybard]

I happened to see this one yesterday. A little too close to reality, methinks. But then, that is The Onion's job isn't it? To make us look at the absurdities around us--and then point and laugh so that we don't kill ourselves when faced with reality.

[fisherbear.livejournal.com]

I was pretty sure it was humor, and either the Onion or someone deliberately writing in their style. The Brownback quote is pure Onionese.

Brownback would never use quantifiers like that. :)