Jules and the CNN pix

[Peter Giordano]

Doug said:
[...]
>Imagine the CNN reporter or editor or producer, on the receiving end of a
>telephone call from somebody purporting to be Thomas Pynchon. The CNN
>journalist knows that Pynchon is a "recluse" (that's the story angle, after
>all) and has avoided contact with the press; the journalist would want some
>way to verify the identity of the caller -- that verification would most
>likely come from the public relations person representing Henry Holt or
>Pynchon. It's difficult to imagine that CNN would positively identify the
>call as being from Pynchon without some sort of credible verification -- it
>would be too easy for Pynchon to issue a statement denying that he made the
>call.
I say:
Hasn't there been some sort of performance artist recently who's "art" is
staging
phoney news which gets broadcast on national TV and hasn't CNN been the
must gulible victim of this person's hoaxes?  I read about this recently
and I'll try to
trace the story - Anyway, Doug's faith in broadcast news is admirable but I
wonder
if it's justified

Peter Giordano
Williams College
Williamstown, MA