The Onion, as most of you know, is a satirical news site that publishes fictional news stories that hits uncomfortably close to home. Every once in a while, some news outlet unknowingly uses it as a source, with major embarrassment to follow. Once the story hits a legitimate news site, it spreads like wildfire before its fictional roots catch up with it. Hundreds of people couldn't wait to tell all their Facebook friends about this one:
And it doesn't have to be April Fools Day -you always have to look out for a possible Onion source. Link
(Image credit: Flickr user Afraid of Ducks)
Possibly the greatest article confusion was over Planned Parenthood’s alleged $8 billion “Abortionplex.” The article included such gems as a banner reading “No Life is Sacred” and quotes from PP’s president:
“The Abortionplex’s high-tech machinery is capable of terminating one pregnancy every three seconds…That’s almost a million abortions every month. We’re so thrilled!”
The article went viral, in part because of how many people thought it was real. It was this article that led to the creation of Literally Unbelievable. So if you read the article in May of 2011 during the debate over the funding of Planned Parenthood, and you weren’t familiar with The Onion, it might be a tiny bit understandable if you got confused.
And it doesn't have to be April Fools Day -you always have to look out for a possible Onion source. Link
(Image credit: Flickr user Afraid of Ducks)