Media Duped by False Chamber of Commerce Release
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
An activist group known as the Yes Men – which recently put out a fake version of the New York Post proclaiming "WE'RE SCREWED" – sent a fake press release, complete with Chamber of Commerce logo, to reporters this morning. The release was quickly picked up by the Reuters wire service, which released a story proclaiming that the Chamber had dropped its opposition to the legislation and was calling for the inclusion of a carbon tax within it.
The story, which you can see here, included a quote from someone identified as a spokesman for the Chamber, Hingo Sembra. Someone calling himself Sembra held a press conference at the National Press Club today to trumpet the ostensible shift in policy. The event included "fake handouts on chamber letterhead, at least a couple of fake reporters, and a podium adorned with the chamber logo," the Washington Post reports. Several reporters -- as well as, presumably, the National Press club -- were reportedly unaware that the event was a hoax.
The press conference began normally but dissolved into a surreal scene when a legitimate Chamber official burst into the event, having heard about it from a reporter, and exclaimed that "Sembra" was a phony. The activist holding the press conference then called the Chamber official, Eric Wohlschlegel, a fake and demanded his business card.
The Yes Men's Andy Bichlbaum told MarketWatch that the stunt was designed to call attention to the Chamber's opposition to the climate bill. He said he welcomed legal action from the business group for using its logo because "it would bring even more attention to the issue."
Reuters eventually corrected its story amid assurances from the Chamber that it continues to oppose the House legislation that passed over the summer. A number of prominent businesses, among them Apple Inc., have left the Chamber in recent weeks in protest of its position on climate change legislation.
The group insists it backs strong reform. It said it was asking law enforcement to investigate Monday's stunt.
"These irresponsible tactics are a foolish distraction from the serious effort by our nation to reduce greenhouse gases," the Chamber said in a release. "The U.S. Chamber believes that strong climate legislation is compatible with the goals of improving our economy and creating jobs."
The White House has been trying to bypass the Chamber, the Post reports, by meeting directly with business leaders and questioning the group's position as the chief representative for big business.
Dow Jones notes that the name of the last name of the media contact listed in the fake press release, "Erica Avidus," is the Latin root for greed.
On their Web site, The Yes Men say their goal is "impersonating big-time criminals in order to publicly humiliate them."
"Targets are leaders and big corporations who put profits ahead of everything else," they write.
H1N1 virus dangerous to young people; Drew Barrymore; and more. 
Two "papers" serve my local area - the Troy Record (aka Troy Wretched), an embarrassment to the profession if there ever was one. There is nothing objective about this organization in terms of its reporting, it is basically an extension of the Republican party. Stories are always full of biased ?reporting? (sometimes you would think it is literally made up fiction), and they routinely take a press release pretty much verbatim and call it "news".
The other is the Times Union (Albany, NY)... Used to be a half decent paper but they only really "cover" a fraction of their claimed readership area. Now there?s a lot of ?white space? and playing to nitwits who are not likely to read a newspaper anyway. Outside Albany proper, there is no investigative journalism. Except for a handful of pretty good reporters and an editor or two, they have mostly lazy reporters and editors, especially covering non-Albany news, who are content to adopt press releases as news.
All that said, in the case of this story, I figure the US Chamber is fair game, considering all the lies and half-truths they put out. I consider the fake announcement a good way to bring the public's attention to the Chamber's recalcitrance on global warming/climate change and a host of other issues. I mean, would any half brained thinking person really believe the Chamber's official stance on that topic would change? So if the stunt got some attention, good!
Never trust anything you hear and only half of what you see.
Standard left wing MO. Lie, decieve, manipulate and then have the nerve to jusify it.
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Yea, just like they did with the WMD's, Yellowcake and mushroom clouds. Oh wait, that wasn't the left wing was it?????