Thursday, June 9, 2011

Texas body hoax -- the lofty Euro view

Here's the Guardian's assessment of the Texas hoax that sent the police and media seeking dismembered bodies at a farm. It's a smug rendering by Bob Garfield and you get the feeling that he feels sure nothing like this could ever happen east of Ireland. But, it was a huge foul up and it was doubtlessly begun by the police. The story doesn't say it, but there's no way this story could have lived for even a shorter time, without police sources reporting it that way. It's a good lesson that the police are not always reliable, but it isn't as if the hoaxer actually phoned the wire services, which then automatically sent out the unconfirmed tale. That's been known to happen as well.

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