Kinsley hooked by monkey see, monkey do
|
Here is a little journalism tip: If Vinnie Your Next-Door Neighbor would have a hard time believing the story you're about to publish, you better work on that potential Pulitzer winner a bit more.
Maybe the reason Michael Kinsley fell for a story about fishing for monkeys in the Florida Keys is that he doesn't appear to be the kind of guy who knows too many Vinnies. What Kinsley is, is an extremely smart and extremely articulate media type with a bio a mile long.
Kinsley was one of the hosts of CNN's "Crossfire," he was editor of The New Republic, and his name appears in all kinds of national publications. Back in 1996, when he decided to move from the East Coast to Redmond to edit Slate, an online magazine published by Microsoft, it made national news. It's big news to national news editors in the East Coast when one of their own decides to move west.
The story that Kinsley, as editor of Slate, ended up apologizing for was a first-person account by author Jay Forman. It was a vivid description of a grotesque "sport" that supposedly takes place in the Florida Keys. According to Forman, locals use deep-sea fishing poles to cast from a boat onto an island with rhesus monkeys. The bait includes kiwis, apples and oranges. Forman provided this description:
"Once the bait was on the hook, I watched the monkeyfisherman cast it onto the island, then waited. Not for long. The monkeys swarmed round the treat, and when the fisherman felt a strong tug he jerked the pole. I knew he had hooked one by the shriek it made - a primal yowl that set my hair on end. The monkey came flying from the trees, a juicy apple stapled to its palm. ... He didn't actually land the monkey in the boat, since having a ------off, screeching money on the end of a hook running around a small skiff trying to bite you is the stuff of nightmares. He practiced a form of 'catch and release ... ' The line was cut and the monkey floundered back. ... "
Kinsley acknowledged the story contained "falsehoods," the biggest whopper being that no monkeys were ever hooked. If only Kinsley had had a Vinnie living next door. What do you think Vinnie would have asked?
How about:
Hey, got any pictures of these monkeys that got hooked?
Or, how about:
Wait a minute. You got an apple on a hook, and then you yank, and it hooks the palm of a monkey, and the monkey comes flying from the trees? Wouldn't that forceful yanking just tear the flesh off the monkey's palm?
It does give you a little humility, falling for a hoax. Take it from one who knows.
A few years ago, when visiting New York City, I was introduced to Joey Skaggs, who later would become nationally known for his media pranks. I was told he was making fish condos - little rooms with tiny furniture that were placed in "aquariums for upwardly mobile guppies."
What a great story, I thought. Joey took pity on me and said it wasn't for real. (Although years later, the hoax became reality when fish condos were sold for $5,000 in the Neiman Marcus catalog.)
Later, when he stopped by Seattle, I had Joey over for a dinner party, where he announced that sometime in the future, he'd have a surprise media hoax. A few months later, a "Dr. Richard J. Long," a marine biologist, formed the "Save the Geoduck" committee, claiming that the Japanese demand for the poor creatures (in powdered form as a sex enhancer) was driving the giant clams to extinction.
The story went national. If only the TV and wire-service reporters had first asked a Vinnie who actually goes to the beaches in this state about geoducks. He would have told them that they're full of the clams.
So, Michael, welcome to the Club of Hoaxed Media Types.
Now you have a whole new perspective on commenting on the news. You can talk all the expert talk you want, next time you're doing analysis on cable.
But in the back of your mind, there'll be this nagging feeling to keep you grounded. You're the guy who fell for the monkey-fishing story - hook, line and sinker.
Erik Lacitis' column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. His phone number is 206-464-2237. His e-mail address is: elacitis@seattletimes.com.