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Looks like some in Iran do not understand the definition of satirical news! Several websites and blogs run satirical news stories. Some like The DuffelBlog and US Infantry as well as The Onion, run these stories all the time. But I do believe this is the first time a news agency took it at face value and ran with it, imagine how they explained that one!
The Iranian news agency FARS bought it hook line and sinker and reported it to the Iranian people as their own story!
Here is a quote from CNN on the story:
Fars News Agency used the story verbatim, giving the same headline: “Gallup Poll: Rural Whites Prefer Ahmadinejad To Obama”
Fars also took all the credit at the get-go:
“TEHRAN (FNA) — According to the results of a Gallup poll released Monday, the overwhelming majority of rural white Americans said they would rather vote for Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than US President Barack Obama.”
(The Onion story used a Charleston, West Virginia, dateline.)
The article went on to quote a West Virginia resident as saying he would rather grab a ballgame or a drink with the Iranian leader than with Obama.
The phony resident then lauded Ahmadinejad: “He takes national defense seriously, and he’d never let some gay protesters tell him how to run his country like Obama does.”
If that weren’t enough, Fars continued, “According to the same Gallup poll, 60 percent of rural whites said they at least respected that Ahmadinejad doesn’t try to hide the fact that he’s Muslim.”
A Fars news editor said Friday that the outlet took the item off its English-language website once editors realized that The Onion wasn’t a legitimate news organization.
Here is the full story from CNN: Iran News Agency Duped
And here is the story posted on the Onion: Gallup Poll: Rural Whites Prefer Ahmadinejad To Obama
Seems FARS removed the story soon after they realized America was laughing uncontrollably at them.
The Iranian news agency FARS bought it hook line and sinker and reported it to the Iranian people as their own story!
Here is a quote from CNN on the story:
Fars News Agency used the story verbatim, giving the same headline: “Gallup Poll: Rural Whites Prefer Ahmadinejad To Obama”
Fars also took all the credit at the get-go:
“TEHRAN (FNA) — According to the results of a Gallup poll released Monday, the overwhelming majority of rural white Americans said they would rather vote for Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than US President Barack Obama.”
(The Onion story used a Charleston, West Virginia, dateline.)
The article went on to quote a West Virginia resident as saying he would rather grab a ballgame or a drink with the Iranian leader than with Obama.
The phony resident then lauded Ahmadinejad: “He takes national defense seriously, and he’d never let some gay protesters tell him how to run his country like Obama does.”
If that weren’t enough, Fars continued, “According to the same Gallup poll, 60 percent of rural whites said they at least respected that Ahmadinejad doesn’t try to hide the fact that he’s Muslim.”
A Fars news editor said Friday that the outlet took the item off its English-language website once editors realized that The Onion wasn’t a legitimate news organization.
Here is the full story from CNN: Iran News Agency Duped
And here is the story posted on the Onion: Gallup Poll: Rural Whites Prefer Ahmadinejad To Obama
Seems FARS removed the story soon after they realized America was laughing uncontrollably at them.
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