Thankfully the overlords at the Associated Press came through in a pinch to, once again, address widely shared misinformation. This includes working with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online (their words).
Proving that, first and foremost, not all heroes wear capes.
In a digital landscape where unearthing the truth is as easy as rattling in your target deer after a wild night at deer camp, this just might be the feel-good story we all needed but didn’t ask for.
A wild story out of Arkansas was making its way around the interwebs and apparently caught the undivided attention of the MSM.
The story follows Bridgette Wilkins, 43, of Summit, AR who had been arrested with several grams of methamphetamine, a stable of four whitetail fawns and a barrage of stolen electronics.
The story alleges that the middle-aged Arkansan was training up the fawns to attack hunters. Caught rummaging through trash trying to score their next meal (or hit), her white-tailed army was what eventually brought her house of cards toppling down.
It was reported that a neighbor followed one of the young deer back to her residence (read: double-wide) where he came face-to-face with Wilkins wearing nothing but a duct tape bikini.
While the visual of a crazed meth head sporting a duct tape bikini is enough to keep this author on the hook for the next sentence, common sense eventually prevailed and I had to dig a bit deeper.
The story was published on a Facebook page – which is a red flag in itself – titled Arkansas Game Fish. A quick scroll down the page indicated what was already presumed about the story – that it was fabricated and satirical in nature.
In fact, there was a post that read “This is a satire page.” the day prior to the breaking story.
Which begs the question I’ve been so desperate to understand.
Why would such a ridiculously fabricated story garner the attention of one of America’s oldest new agencies? More importantly, how did an editor at such an organization approve of the fact check piece to begin with.
This story deserves attention, if nothing else, for entertainment. It’s crazy enough to be funny. And if you check out the page, there are a couple of others that are worth a chuckle.
For me, the humor dies when it warrants the attention (and bravery) of the Associated Press and their misinformation team.
Fact-checking self-proclaimed satire is the highest form of mental masturbation and is every bit as frustrating.
