Satirical Facebook page is not getting laughs from politicians
Joke news trend once limited to cable TV has gone local
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is wearing a blue hijab in a doctored photo above a report about her “plans to make Ramadan a state holiday.”
The story quotes an anonymous “source” saying this declaration was “an attempt to appease the Muslim community in New Mexico” and is “based on fears that the community might burn a historic New Mexico cathedral.”
The mysterious “source” added: “We’re basically out of money, so we can’t afford to repair anything.” The story, of course, is not true. It was from a May 9 post on a Facebook page called “The Farmington Tribune” — described by one of its writers as a “joke page” that bills itself as “the number one source for solid, uncompromising journalism in a world filled with fake news.”
As of Saturday, the Ramadan post had drawn more than 2,300 comments and more than 6,500 shares. The Tribune page, started in June, had more than 10,000 followers as of Friday.
The Governor’s Office, for one, wasn’t laughing.
“Considering their stuff is miserably unfunny, I have to surmise that their
primary goal is to misinform,” said Lujan Grisham spokesman Tripp Stelnicki on Friday. “While it’s inane, it’s not harmless. The casual anti-Muslim sentiment is extremely pernicious.”
With violent attacks against religious minorities on the rise, sowing such seeds could reap more hate crimes, he said.
In an interview Friday conducted over Facebook Messenger, a writer who calls himself “Hunter S. Johnson” — an homage to the late “gonzo” journalist Hunter S. Thompson — said, “We don’t single out any particular groups with our writing. Everyone feels targeted. Most people can tell we’re a joke page though. We just like to write.”
The power of the pen — or just as accurately, Photoshop and the internet — has a different tenor for politicians, even the local variety, these days. While once the collision of opinion, humor and satire seemed tethered to cable TV shows and national political figures, the trend is moving local.
Mary Lamonica, a journalism professor at New Mexico State University, said Friday that “it’s highly likely that people will share such online spoofs. At least some percentage of the public will believe that these fake stories are real, especially since they are published under what sounds like a legitimate newspaper name.”
Lamonica added, “I think the misinformation divide often has a psychological component; people will believe what they want to believe. … Stories like this might be more likely to be believed by individuals who have lesser education or a greater fear of people of color, or of non-Christians.”
For his part, Johnson said he is one of three writers on the Farmington Tribune site — the others being its founder “Robert Paulson,” (named after a character in the movie Fight Club), and “Dirk Diggler” (named for a fictitious porn star in Boogie Nights).
Those involved want to remain anonymous, Johnson said, because of “threats” made by “lot of people.”
When told the governor’s spokesman was harshly critical, Johnson said, “I can’t imaging MLG is a fan. Or any politician. Or judge.”
Though most of the political humor on the page seems to be lampooning liberals, the Democratic governor isn’t the only one who has been critical of the site.
In March, there was an exchange between the Tribune and Orlando Baca, a former Santa Fe County Republican Party chairman and former state GOP officer.
Baca wrote on the site: “Not labeled as a FAKE news site. I love satire, but this is beyond the pale.”
To which the Tribune replied, “There is a difference between ‘fake news’ and satire though, as I’m sure you’re well aware. ‘Fake news’ is not meant to be a joke. Satire uses humor to make a point. We employ satire and parody. The fact that we’re a parody site explains why we’re not ‘labeled’ as a fake news site, wouldn’t you agree? The Daily Show and Colbert Report don’t label themselves either. They call their show ‘news shows’ despite the fact that they’re obviously comedy. So are we.”
Baca said the site should label itself as comedy. “You are going to create a lot of ill-will,” he wrote. “People are going to think of your post as serious … once they find out the truth they’re going to feel like fools and hate you for it.”
The Tribune replied, “That’s probably happened a few times. All of our articles have ‘tells.’ … Most folks that say they ‘fell for it’ or whatnot, have a good laugh when they realize. A few have gotten angry. It comes with the territory. We write stories. They’re not for everyone.”
True enough — many people apparently did believe the Ramadan post. More than 1,500 people have reacted, with more than a thousand responding with the “angry” face emoji.
Asked about the notion that many people take the Tribune seriously, Johnson replied: “That’s true. Hopefully this is a lesson. They share it. A friend points it out. Hopefully they learn.
“The internet is full of [expletive],” he said. “Most people don’t intend it as a joke like we do.”
On Saturday, the site posted a link to a story on the factchecking site Snopes.com, which last week debunked the Ramadan story.
Asked about Stelnicki’s contention that such jokes could lead to violence against Muslims, Johnson replied, “That isn’t our intention, obviously.”