hoaxes

Any self-respecting news organization employs teams of editors and fact-checkers to make sure that when a story goes to press, everything is as correct as possible. Unfortunately, in the rush to report on breaking news as soon as possible, certain details can often be overlooked or confused—details like whether or not the president is actually dead. And then other times, a story sounds so good that editors soft-pedal or entirely bypass the fact-checking stage, a decision that more often than not comes back to bite them on the ass. Here are ten good reasons not to believe everything you read. DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN ...

Sometimes we read the police reports and think that some of these crimes are too bizarre to be true. And sometimes we’re right! People, for all manner of reasons, commit crimes against themselves and try to pin the rap on someone else. Obviously, these self-inflicted crimes get found out eventually, but they certainly give us something to talk about. Here are 10 of the most bizarre self-inflicted crimes in history. Ashley Todd Attack - 2008 One of the most craven self-inflicted crimes of all time happened in 2008, when a young woman named Ashley Todd walked into a police station in Pittsburgh with the letter ...

“You gotta see it to believe it!” That phrase has been ingrained in our minds, and for good reason. For ages, it was true. To see something with your own eyes silenced skepticism. But now, with the modern magic of Photoshop and other tools, seeing is no longer believing, and that is the central tenant to most hoaxes. Of course, the vast majority of ghost stories are hoaxes, yet according to a CBS News poll in 2009, nearly half of Americans believe in ghosts. Maybe that explains the popularity of so many ghost-hunters shows. Or does it reinforce the phrase, “There’s a sucker born every minute”? ...

Hoaxes are extremely annoying, frustrating and often disappointing, especially if you are one of the sorry suckers who fell for one. Unfortunately, there is no sure-fire way to avoid them without the risk of becoming a cynical jerk who is skeptical about everything. And in this day and age, with the abundance of online tools and channels to assist in spreading a hoax, they are more evident than ever. Here are 10 Internet hoaxes that have fooled us already, and we're sure there will be many more to come. The 9/11 Tourist Guy This infamous photo was one of the earliest online hoaxes to send shockwaves through the world, ...