Hoaxsters like "Eisenstadt" are one reason that the blogosphere can't be taken seriously as a source or reliable information.

Hoaxters like Eisenstadt turn establishment journalists into Palins.

Did MSNBC really break the story? The reports on MSNBC that I saw credited Fox, showing a Fox newsman reading the report to Bill O'Reilly, and crediting anonymous McCain campaign insiders.

This type of tactic is fairly common with denialists (evolution, AIDS, AGW, Therimosal, etc). If a piece of unflattering news appears, wait for it to be repeated by a relatively unknown blogger, a notoriously unreliable news source, an individual who has penchant for the absurd, a right-wing target, or, as in this case, a fictional character (though I have to admit that this is the first time I've seen this come up). Then the story can be denied -- not based on the facts, but on the reliability of the 'witness.' Anthropogenic Global Warming is a myth because Al Gore is fat. Evolution is a lie because PZ Myers (who is an atheist) says it is true. Right wing bloviators (you know of whom I speak (er, make that, write)) will now claim the story that Palin thought Africa was a country is untrue because Eisenstadt does not exist (though he did take one hell of a VJ-Day photo!).

http://iambilly.wordpress.com

The "Harding Institute"? LOL

This is what happens when you don't have any real journalists working for you.

I saw Schuster report this "confession" and immediately posted it as an OT here. What happened though, was that he teased the story by saying after the break we will tell you who leaked the Palin story. Then after the break he showed the Eisenstadt blog, but added that even as he spoke, it appears the blog story may be a hoax. I suspect someone prepped the story prematurely, but that they learned something during that commercial break. Even as I posted it here, I commented that Schuster was sceptical, and within a few minutes, NonyNony linked a wikipedia story showing that Eisenstadt had been involved in this mischief before.

I'm sure you're right, Steve. The hoax is that "Eisenstadt" was the source for the Africa-is-a-country story, not the story itself.

The Eisenstadt blog is also where the "Joe the Plumber nailed Kristen Whig" story came from, too.

Yeah - that "Eisenstadt Group" website has been the source of a number of unfounded rumors floating around the blogosphere for the last year. I'm surprised that the Africa story actually broke into the news - it's so trivial. The one that really seemed to take a lot of people in was when he posted that "Joe the Plumber" was related to Charles Keating - I can't count the number of posts I made telling people about the hoaxer and that the story probably wasn't true.

Actually the fact that it was piggy-backed onto a story that FOX had already reported probably made it more believable. Still, a quick google search on the name brings up the SourceWatch website where you could find out that there are at least some questions about this whole "Martin Eisdestadt's" credibility. Or, you know, maybe contacting Steve Schmidt or someone related to the campaign to verify that the guy with a blog actually worked on the campaign staff? I know that's expecting journalists to do some journalism, but it seems like a small thing to ask.

Can anyone confirm that Sarah Palin actually exists?

Eisenstadt sounds like a Republican manifestation to discredit the original story. That MSNBC fell for, it is unforgivable.

(Also I forgot to mention - "Al"'s comment at the top wins the thread for best meta post. It took me a second, but I got it eventually.)

Soon enough the real books from named sources will come out dishing the real dirt on the inside of that failed campaign. Methinks all those interviews and blabbing by the witch of Wasilla are premptive strikes against the actual truth ...oh they just made that stuff up because I denied it already - You Betcha!

Let's remember that W himself said something like this:

“We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease.” —President George W. Bush at a news conference in Sweden, June 14, 2001

This got a lot of attention at the time--Newsweek, among others, gave it the 15 seconds of play it deserved--as another example of our President's inability to speak coherently.

It's interesting that the McCain insiders--many of whom came from the White House--are choosing to spin this as evidence of Palin's unteachable stupidity. Are we unAmericans the only ones who see the irony? Does irony have a liberal bias too?

Eisenstadt sounds like a Republican manifestation to discredit the original story. That MSNBC fell for, it is unforgivable.

Eh. I doubt it. I mean, it may turn out to be true. But I think it's more likely that it's just some anonymous jerk laughing at the rubes who fall for his con.

I'll bet he felt like he'd won a huge victory when Schuster picked up on his nonsense and spread it unverified. Punking liberal bloggers is one thing, but getting a news network to repeat your drivel is probably big ego points to a hoaxer.

Why the heck DON'T the accusers identify themselves? They'd be national heroes and get a day named after them.

Sarah sure seems busy with the people of Alaska's business ;)
Thank goodness for them that they have a governor so interested the day-to-day affairs of running a state that losing its #1 income to $56 barrel oil.

Hmmm. Eisenstadt. Sounds Jewish.

Who cares. The story took traction because people thought it was possible, that is the story. If the same leak came out about Biden, no one would have printed it, because it's not possible.

The "problem here" is also that many folks, including you, choose to believe Cameron's "report" supposedly based upon the comments of anonymous McCain campaign official. Cameron's report could be total BS, like the majority of "news" reports.

Palin's denial was indeed fuzzy, but just about everything she says is fuzzy.

does it matter if eisenstadt exists?

when asked about it, in an interview fairly soon after fox aired this information palin essentially confirmed that her ability to identify africa as a continent had been an issue during her "lessons."

"Understandably skeptical"?

I don't find it surprising at all. My wife wasn't sure whether Africa was a country or continent, and had to think about it. She graduated from a decent university, but Geography wasn't a required subject.

When do you think the last time Sarah had to think about Africa? I would guess high school.

"Hmmm. Eisenstadt. Sounds Jewish."

Read the NYT story which explains how the pranksters came up with the name.

Later, Palin said her comments about Africa had been "taken out of context."

Oh, so now Sarah Palin has a problem with taking people's comments out of context?

Irony is never truly dead, is it?

Hoaxsters like "Eisenstadt" are one reason that the blogosphere can't be taken seriously as a source or reliable information.
Posted by: Al

Judy Miller wasnt a hoax, but she was.

All this Sarah Palin and Joe Lieberman bullshit is just to distract the public from GOP attempts to steal the contested senate seats, Paulson's bankster giveaways, and the deteriorating economy. Liberals should ignore it and be thankful that Faux is not spreading around more hateful lies.

"I doubt it. I mean, it may turn out to be true. But I think it's more likely that it's just some anonymous jerk laughing at the rubes who fall for his con."- NonyNony

I'm not prone to conspiracy theories, but this one seems plausible. How easy would it be for someone over at Palin in 2012 headquarters to generate a list of known hoaxers, write this "I did it statement" under that name, drop an anonymous tip to several MSMs, and sit back and watch for any takers. It's virtually untraceable, completely deniable, and very low risk/ high reward.
Now if Palin runs in 12' she can point to this story and deny her gross incompetence. She's already accused "bloggers in pajamas" of spreading falsehoods about her days BEFORE this latest hoax. Hmmmmmmm.

Seems to me that the people calling this a case of liberal media bias are way off the mark. It's more likely a symptom of media of all stripes just going too fast to do a decent job of reporting. More on that here:
http://notimetothinkbook.com/?p=120

This is kind of like when Dan Rather and CBS got bamboozled by the phony GWB air national guard records. The fact that the records they had were forgeries doesnt mean that GWB actually carried out his duties, but once it came out that CBS ran with fakes, the story died.

This hoax doesn't have a liberal/conservative spin. The point of the hoaxsters was to show how easily the news media can be suckered given their desperate need to fill 24 hours a day.

Given the consistent direction of these hoaxes - all purporting to further bad news for Republicans - this looks to be part of the right wing noise machine.

Blogs and other web outlets have been very effective during this election in chasing down Republican misinformation and dirty tactics. These hoaxes undermine the credibility of bloggers (who, admittedly, far too often post first and ask questions later) and muddy the details around stories that could hurt the politicians involved.

When the Joe the Plumber hoax hit, I was struck by how quickly it was seeded and then the site was pulled. Almost as if they had advance notice that the guy was going to be used as a debate prop. Not saying, just saying...

This was a brilliant hoax. To satire Sarah Palin is a not an easy thing to do. The woman is a walking joke and if there were any justice McCain would be tried for treason for tapping her (for the VP). It worked because it's believable that she would think Africa is a country and would have no idea what countries are in North America. Bravo.

From Eisenstadt's blog:

As you may have seen from my responses to this documentary, I’m quite upset at the way I was portrayed in the series, but in this one particular episode, at least I am asked, and I think I answer, the question directly. (please, though, I urge you to skip ahead to minute 1:50 where I address the issue head on - the rest of this episode takes much of what I say out of context)

The parenthetical is hilarious

"Eisenstadt sounds like a Republican manifestation to discredit the original story."

That would be my first (uninformed guess, also). Just like the TANG story. Want a real story to be discredited and disappeared - have a bogus source make prominent claims about it. When source is eventually exposed as bogus, story goes away too.

"Read the NYT story which explains how the pranksters came up with the name."

Thanks! I thought those neoconservatives might be out to get Sarah Real American Palin. I'll mention this to President Sarkozy the next time he calls.

Like I said in the earlier thread "SOLIDARITY" (making the same point as OPed here, but going further), this may have been a "bait and spoil" operation designed to cast doubt on the whole story. The weird Kos "diarist" story that Sarah Palin pretended to be pregnant with Bristol's baby may have been likewise (see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jackson-williams/dr-rove-will-see-you-now_b_123247.html.)

Here again, from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_en_tv/palin_hoax_1 admitted, is language making very clear the distinction:

The hoax was limited to the identity of the source in the story about Palin — not the Fox News story itself. While Palin has denied that she mistook Africa for a country, the veracity of that report was not put in question by the revelation that Eisenstadt is a phony.

BTW, I don't believe Palin is that dumb anyway, but the logical point remains.

Palin's defense clearly demonstrates that she *still* does not know that Africa is not a country: “I think that if there are allegations based on questions or comments that I made in debate prep about NAFTA, and about the continent versus the country when we talk about Africa there, then those were taken out of context."

The continent versus the country? What country?

This is what happens when there are no editors. I fear for American journalism. Pajama-clad bloggers are not reporters!