National Report

National Report is a fake news website that posts fictional articles related to world events.[1][2] It is described by Snopes.com as a fake news site,[3] by FactCheck.org as a satirical site,[4] and by The Washington Post as part of a fake-news industry, making profits from "duping gullible Internet users with deceptively newsy headlines."[5] The National Report describes itself as a "news and political satire web publication" and provides a disclaimer that "all news articles contained within National Report are fiction".[6]

For the Colombian singles chart, see National-Report. For the news program, see Newsmax.
National Report
Type of site
Fake news
OwnerJestin Coler, also known as Allen Montgomery
Founder(s)Jestin Coler
URLnationalreport.net
Launched2013

Stories from the National Report have been taken seriously by third parties such as Fox News Channel, including the false report that the town of Purdon, Texas, has been quarantined after an outbreak.[7][8] The story led to a traffic spike of two million unique visitors, and although the story was debunked by other websites, the original National Report story received six times as many "shares" on social media sites as the debunking stories did.[9]

History

In February 2013, National Report was registered as a site.[10] Paul Horner was the publication's lead writer;[11] his employment began shortly after National Report went online.[12] He said that he left National Report in 2014.[13] Jestin Coler has written for the site under the pseudonym "Allen Montgomery".[14]

In 2014, a Facebook interface experiment included the site on a list of those whose stories were flagged as "satire" when appearing on the social network.[15] Writing at the time, Craig Silverman of emergent.info saw National Report as one of several websites that were "not driven by trying to do comedy or satire, but by what kind of fake stuff can we spin up to get shares that earn us money",[7] with particularly widely spread hoax stories capable of earning thousands of dollars per day from on-site advertising.[11]

Disclaimer

The National Report carries a disclaimer identifying its content as satire and fake news,[6] but no prominent link to this page was seen until late December 2014.[16][17] Numerous articles referring to National Report stories stated that National Report's disclaimer had been removed.[7][18]

Misinterpretations

Several hoax National Report stories have been mistakenly reported as fact by media outlets.

One report stated that Arizona governor Jan Brewer intended to introduce mandatory gay-to-straight conversion courses into the state's public school system. A spokesman for the governor called the fake article "vile" and said, "its authors should be ashamed". Brewer has been a target of gay-rights activists because of her efforts to strip same-sex partners of government benefits, and for her stance on making adopting children harder for gay couples.[19][20][21]

One article, at the time of the closure of some US monuments, including the World War II memorial in Washington, DC, during a budget dispute, fooled researchers at Fox News Channel into reporting that the then President Obama had announced his intention to spend his own money to keep a Muslim museum open during a government shutdown.[10][18]

A report published on November 2, 2013, claiming a fictitious Assam Rape Festival created a furor in Indian national and local media. Several newspapers and blogs reported the same.[22][23][24] A police probe in India showed the story originated from Uganda.[25]

See also

References
  1. Mendez, David (26 August 2013). ""National Report" Proves That Not Everyone On Internet Can Write Satire". Tucson Weekly. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  2. "November Surprise". Snopes. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  3. "Kindergarten Crock". Snopes. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  4. "Free Gas For Low-Income Americans?". FactCheck. 25 November 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  5. Dewey, Caitlin (21 January 2015). "Did Facebook just kill the Web's burgeoning fake-news industry?". Washington Post. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  6. "Disclaimer". National Report. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  7. "Fake news sites are using Facebook to spread Ebola panic". The Verge. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  8. "Texas Town Quarantined After Family of Five Test Positive for the Ebola Virus". Snopes. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  9. Shafer, Jack (29 October 2014). "Our appetite for fake Ebola stories and other bunk". Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  10. Dewey, Caitlyn (22 October 2014). "This is not an interview with Banksy". The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  11. Caitlin Dewey (January 21, 2015). "Did Facebook just kill the Web's burgeoning fake-news industry?". Washington Post. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  12. "This is not an interview with Banksy". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  13. Lince, Tim (September 15, 2015). "Notorious 'cybersquatter' advises brands: 'know your target and adapt your approach' - Blog - World Trademark Review". Archived from the original on November 21, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  14. We Tracked Down A Fake-News Creator In The Suburbs. Here's What We Learned
  15. Caitlin Dewey (August 19, 2014). "Facebook "satire" tag could wipe out the Internet's terrible hoax-news industry". Washington Post. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  16. "National Report". Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved 2013-10-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  17. "National Report". Archived from the original on December 29, 2014. Retrieved 2013-10-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  18. "Fox News mistakenly airs parody of Obama offering to personally fund Muslim museum". Yahoo News. 5 October 2013.
  19. "Gov. Jan Brewer slams satirical report that Arizona is launching gay conversion classes in all public schools". NY Daily News. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  20. "Arizona schools not implementing gay-conversion therapy". azcentral.com. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  21. No, Crazyland's Governor is Not Putting a Gay to Straight Curriculum in Arizona Schools, Tucson Weekly, August 22, 2013
  22. US website takes satire too far, makes up Assam Rape Festival November 8, 2013
  23. Assam fumes at American website's 'rape festival' spoof November 8, 2013
  24. 'Assam Rape Fest' story in US media triggers row November 8, 2013
  25. "Police Probe Shows Fake 'Assam Rape Festival' Came From Uganda". Guardian Liberty Voice. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
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