From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A media prank is a type of media event,
perpetrated by staged speeches, activities, or press releases,
designed to trick legitimate journalists into publishing erroneous
or misleading articles. The term may also refer to such stories if
planted by fake journalists, as well as the false story thereby
published. A media prank is a form of culture jamming generally done as performance art
or a practical
joke for purposes of a humorous critique of mass media.
Notable
instances
One well-known prank, orchestrated by Abbie Hoffman and Allen Ginsberg
and chronicled in Norman Mailer's Armies of the Night, involved a mock
gathering protesting the Vietnam War (that many media took as a
serious but misguided effort) intended to levitate the Pentagon.[1]
Joey Skaggs is
one of the most prolific creators of media pranks in the United
States, often using actors to stage outlandish public events that
are then covered by news media as real stories.[2]
Among his many pranks, he convinced United Press International
to report that cockroach hormones had been identified as a cure for
arthritis,[2]
and tricked WABC-TV in New
York city to create a news segment (which was nominated for an Emmy Award despite being
untrue) about a supposed "cathouse for dogs".[2]
The band Negativland is (according to Time Magazine)
"better known for media pranks than records". The band, as an
excuse for cancelling an upcoming tour, issued a press release
claiming that a teenager who had committed a multiple ax murder did
so after arguing with his parents over the meaning of its song, Christianity Is Stupid. The
story was picked up and reprinted as true by mass media, and the
band wrote later songs about having perpetrated the hoax.[3] In 2003
the band issued a series of press releases accusing Seattle, Washington radio station KJR-FM of playing 1980s music
despite claiming it only played "the best of the 60s and 70s" then,
after the radio station changed its format, issued more press
releases announcing that it had all been a prank.[4]
Beginning in 1999 with the fake campaign-oriented website
gwbush.com, the Yes Men have impersonated famous
celebrities, politicians, and business officials at appearances,
interviews, websites, and other media to make political points.[5]
Critique
Although media pranks may serve as legitimate criticism of the
press, and artistic creations in their own right, they are often
criticized not only for the disruption they cause but as simple publicity
stunts that take advantage of the very failures of mass media
that they ostensibly oppose.[2]
Skaggs has criticized the Flash mob movement, as being frivolous and
lacking the countercultural element of more serious
protest art.[1]
See also
External
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