Little Red Hoax Hits NewsBlog 5000
Thursday, December 29, 2005
(SNN New Bedford) A little over a week ago, the Sincmil News Network reported a Dartmouth student had been questioned by Homeland Security in connection with an interlibrary loan request. This report has now turned out to be a hoax.
The student reportedly broke down and admitted his account of being questioned was a hoax after being questioned by the professor, Brian Williams, who had first report of the story.
The story was originally reported in the New Bedford Standard-Times, and was quickly picked up by other news publications. Amongst the news publications fooled by the hoax was the Sincmil News Network, and its affiliated web site NewsBlog 5000. The story even prompted an op-ed piece by Senator Edward Kennedy.
A spokesperson for Kennedy said the senator cited "public reports" in his opinion piece. Even if the answer nation was a hoax, she said, it did not detract from Kennedy's broader point that using someone's library card is evidence really, really sucks.
A spokesman for the Sincmil News Network, Dr. Ryan Maynard, reportedly said, "We did a story on what?"
In addition, Williams said that the student's admission was in no way related to the brutal attack which nearly left the student crippled, or the disappearance of his little sister. The student could not be reached for comment.
