truth and fiction

[Dan Lester]

I think you'll find this worth the couple minutes to check out. 
Raises
lots of interesting questions regarding information and
disinformation.
For the moment I'll assume that the conclusions reached
(that the story is
bogus) are true.  But it does add a whole new dimension to
"doctoring the
news" or "making up the news", beyond that which we
already know regarding
traditional print sources.  

The implications for libraries are obvious (though most of us
have known of
them for a long time....just haven't generally had such a
blatant example),
no matter which version is true.  

dan


>Date: Tue, 08 Jul 97 11:17:49 CDT
>Subject: Getting the truth online: Pol Pot in Sweden
>
>Hi everyone. If you've got a minute to spare, I'd invite you to
visit a 
>fascinating news story on TASS.net. The notorious, yet
enigmatic Khmer 
>Rouge leader Pol Pot has successfully fled Cambodia and
has been accepted 
>into exile in Stockholm:
>
>http://www.tass.net/
>
>(read no further until you've visited the page, please...)
>
>
>Now, the real story. The TASS.net Pol Pot story is a bogus
webpage 
>concocted by a PR firm in Sweden as a test for a new
website design. When 
>questioned about the ethics of such a site, the PR firm said
the site was 
>obviously a joke, and any good journalist worth his or her
salt would not 
>take the site seriously without proper confirmation and
investigation.
>
>I found this comment interesting, so I decided to test it
myself while I 
>was attending NECC. At the conference, I visited one of the
many Internet 
>stations scattered throughout the convention center. While I
would check 
>my email on one computer, I'd leave the computer next to
me opened up to 
>the TASS.net page, with the headline "Pol Pot Reconfirms
Presence in 
>Stockholm, Sweden" in large typeface across the screen.
>
>As I checked email, numerous individuals approached the
Internet station 
>to check email. Usually within a matter of seconds, I'd hear
an "Oh my 
>gosh" or something as they discovered the Pol Pot story. I'd
then turn to 
>them surprised and ask, "what is it?," at which point they
would turn 
>back to me and say "Pol Pot's gone into exile in Sweden!
Incredible..." 
>or "I can't believe the bastard escaped in one piece..."
>
>To this, I'd continue the conversation by saying, "this can't
be real. 
>Are you sure this isn't a joke?" The typical response
included, "well, 
>there it is over the Tass newswire service," "No, that's Pol
Pot 
>alright," (as if Pol Pot was a former neighbor they used to
have over 
>for brunch), or "nah, look, they've got video footage of him..."
>
>I played this game about six or seven times over the course
of an hour, 
>and each time it ended with the unlucky individual leaving
the Internet 
>station exclaiming to themselves how incredible this turn of
events was. 
>And each time, I was struck by how convinced these people
were that they 
>were viewing real news - cold hard facts written up by a
disinterested 
>journalist.
>
>But the entire piece was a farce. The pictures and video
were fakes (some 
>short Asian man in sunglasses - Pol Pot may never have
been a friend of 
>mine, but this guy was no Pol Pot...). As for the page
appearing on the 
>Tass wire service, well, the real Tass has an website alright,
but it's 
>located at http://www.itar-tass.com, not http://www.tass.net.
(The real 
>Tass folks in Russia, I understand, are not very pleased.)
>
>What does this tell us? Obviously, PR firms in Sweden can
have a strange 
>sense of humor. But they also tell us that we better be
careful of what 
>we accept as truth on the Internet. Here we have a slick,
newsy website, 
>with a seemingly credible domain name, yet it's a load of
bunk. I used to 
>think that it was pretty easy to sort out the real from the
fake on the 
>Internet, but now I'm not so confident. It's one thing to play
this game 
>with folks at a conference, but I wonder just how many
casual netsurfers 
>who don't follow the international news would take this
seriously...
>
>
>ac
>Andy Carvin
>WWWEDU Coordinator and Moderator
>acarvin at kudzu.cnidr.org
>