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iPhone Thumbs Story Running Even Though A Hoax |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Wednesday, 15 August 2007 |
Today the hoax story of the man who had his thumbs surgically
altered to better use his iPhone is still running on at loeast one leading media
site.
These sites are carrying the news at least three days after the Editor of the Denver Times, which made up the story has posted a notice that the story is a satirical piece of social commentary.
That esteemed bastion of journalistic integrity and quality The Courier Mail is still treating the hoax as fact.
Posted on August 12th Australia time, The Courier Mail piece says in part: "As today's
handheld gadgets get smaller, pushing the right buttons gets harder. So
what's a fat-fingered guy to do but have his thumbs surgically whittled
down? The North Denver Post reports that Thomas Martel, 28, did exactly that."
Well no he didn't do exactly that. Mr Martel does not exist.
In the statement posted on August 11th (Denver time), Guerin Lee Green of the
North Denver News tries to clear up the confusion for the gulible, noting: "Strangely, while many readers have grasped
that "Surgically alters
thumbs" represents satirical social commentary, many on the internet,
alas, have not."
"Additionally, many commentators have derided Mr. Martel for stupidity
first and foremost, which may indicate something about their credulity.
In an era when fake news, like Paris Hilton, has crowded out real news
and public debate, the lesson is that skeptical consumption of
information, whether from the North Denver News, the New York Times, or
the National Review, is a must," says the clarification.
Both Thomas Martel and his plastic surgeon Dr. Ben Fox
Spars are fictious characters imagined for the sake of the piece.
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