Last week I got duped by a fun news hoax which said Mel Gibson had been arrested for terrorism charges. It was interesting to sort of review my own internal reactions as the story turned out to be fake. Part of me wanted to take it down, but part of me also enjoyed the whole thing. Whether it’s real or fake, it cuts to the heart of some deeper issues with the media and how information is disseminated today. So rather than just pretend like this never happened - which a lot of sites seem to be doing - I asked for the hoax author, Mike Hess, to do a very brief interview here to clarify what he was trying to accomplish. I don’t necessarily agree with all of what he said, but see what you think:

POP OCCULTURE: What were you trying to accomplish with this hoax?

MIKE HESS: One major goal was to point out the flaws of the news community (be it mainstream or bloggers), most worry about getting the biggest scoop (whether the story is true, skewed, or even false). They want ratings and hits. I also wanted the public to be aware how gullible they can be at times. The public can often be too trusting of certain news sources. Some choose the BBC, some CNN, others Fox. Many people don’t realize also that most of their channels are often owned by the same corporations. This is thanks ot the deregulation of the FCC. So it is really up to the internet community to put up accurate information to help the general public gain more knowledge.

Why Mel Gibson? Do you run other news hoaxes?

Mel Gibson was chosen because of his own mistakes. Simply put he set the stage. A lot of public opinion was against him for his comments and drunk driving. After his comments it made the story a little more believable than before. Everyone wanted the newest scoop on the Mel Gibson story. A lot of people believe it was because I am part of a “Jewish conspiracy to ruin Mel Gibson.” I am not part of any Jewish or Zionist theory, and I am not Jewish. If Tom Cruise was making headlines jumping on couches and being crazy again, I am sure I would have created a story about him somehow. Probably something to make a jab at him and scientology. South Park does a pretty good job of that anyways.

I don’t really run any big news hoaxes like the Mel Gibson one right now. But a good hoax story has to do with timing, so to see another big one it might be a while. Maybe I will develope a bigger hoax that won’t just be one site, but multiple ones, along with possible some radio stations, but that is yet to be seen. I’d have to come up with an idea that will not hurt anyone (reputation or otherwise) but will still get lots of coverage.

How did you originally get people to look at and link to this hoax?

I first posted it on an obscure forum that had a few people around the world, but the thread was quickly shut down and the story died for a little. (it also didn’t have the bbclosangeles.com domain finalized at that point). So I bought the bbclosangeles.com domain set it up with my hosting company, than put it out on myspace.com as a bulletin and than posted it on a thread about a Mel Gibson article on Fark.com and from there it got a life of it’s own. Occasionally I’d update it a little depending on the feedback making the story a little more refined. There was always a disclaimer saying the article was faux or fake on the page.

Why do you think it spread so quickly?

I think it spread quickly because most of the bloggers and people on the web wanted to get the biggest scoop on the Mel Gibson story. Be the first on your digital block with a big story and you get major traffic and attention, something a lot of users and bloggers on the net want. I also think it spread fast because of the way our society is, we want instant gratification, we don’t bother to look at the overall picture. Our society also loves to be nosey and to get into famous peoples personal lives. Terrorism is still on the news. So this hit people on a lot of levels. I honestly didn’t think it would be believed so well or quickly. I thought Mel Gibson being a terrorist was a little too far fetched but would make a good joke, but nothing to serious.

I think the best part about it is it followed the key to a good urban legend/hoax:

-They contain “details” that create the impression the story is true.

In this case it was the BBC layout, the BBCLosAngeles.com url, the FBI assistant directors name, etc.

-They may contain a grain of truth, which implies that the entire story is true.

Mel Gibson was arrested and charged with DUI, Tidwell is the Assistant Director of the FBI in Los Angeles, that was an old layout for the BBC.

-The story reflects contemporary fears.

Terrorism is a fear most Americans have, fear of being arrested, our favorite hero not being so heroic, etc.

-The person telling the story believes he knows the person who knows the person who witnessed or is involved in the story.

The story was written as a BBC article though not perfect did make it sound like it was coming from the BBC. We all know who Mel Gibson is, and what the BBC is.

-The story is reported in the media, either as fact or rumor.

Many people believed the BBC was reporting it, radio stations played it as real, blogging sites put it out there as real, even newsweek had it for a split second, and some people reported drudgereport.com having it also.

Aren’t there any better ways to get people interested in media literacy and related issues than simply by fooling them?

It’s hard to say, at least for the next few days bloggers and readers are going to be checking multiple sources for their articles. When only a few companies own the media they don’t want any media literacy because that means people will start looking for other news sources, which means they start loosing some of their power. The deregulation of both the internet and media (newspapers, radio stations, TV station) might become the end of information was we know it and into an Orwellian state pf disinformation put out not by the government alone, but by a few very powerful media conglomerates. So really the best thing for media literacy is to get the government to step in and regulate the media to keep smaller news outlets from being bought up by huge conglomerates. But you will never those conglomerates speak about media literacy since they profit by illiteracy. And without the media the average person won’t look farther than their TV set, and if this gets people to actually look at some of these blogs with wonderful thoughts about helping the average person gain insight into the media, so much the better.

Have you yet or do you worry about getting into trouble for knowingly distributing false information and posing as a major corporation?

Of course I worry, everyone worries. I don’t think I trully posed as a major corporation, there was always a disclaimer and a link back to either the info page or the blog, which said it was fake and that the BBCLA is really the Bullshit Broadcasting Confederation of Los Angeles. I could see if I had hosted the site and under the whois changed it to the British Broadcasting Corporation. In which case this article would have been spread even farther. I really think that the disclaimer and me leaving the option up for Mel Gibson or the BBC to contact me to remove the fake page or add a huge huge disclaimer that it is fake has covered a large portion of it. I also think the legal precident is there that covers this as free speech. The greatest example of this is when Larry Flynt ran the fake article in Hustler about Jerry Falwell losing his virginity to his own mother as a fake alcohol advertisement. Jerry Falwell sued Flynt for defamation, appropriation of his name and likeness, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The precident set by the supreme court went a long way for the open spread of jokes and false information about public figures in parodies, hoaxes, and jokes. Many people even claimed the fake ad was obscene but that was thrown out as well.

Here’s the Falwell Ad-Parody.

The Mel Gibson article has been seen by over two million users in over 80 different countries and linked by over 1000 websites. Many people believe it is one of the greatest internet hoaxes they have seen, and others think it is the most despicable thing ever. I am personally amazed that 30 minutes of messing around online could fool thousands if not possible millions of people, if only for a short time. I can’t imagine how much bigger it would have been if I had actually planned it all out, or if I didn’t put a disclaimer and hints on the page.