JournalismPakistan.com | Published July 30, 2012
Join our WhatsApp channel
NEW YORK: The New York Times, which famously insists on the accuracy of its reports, was red faced Sunday after being fooled by a hoax online editorial posted under the name of ex-boss Bill Keller.
The editorial, titled "WikiLeaks, a Post Postscript," was purportedly published over the weekend by the Times and in every way appears to be the real thing from Keller, who until last September was the paper's executive editor.
The article appeared on a web page built to replicate the Times' popular website, right down to perfectly working links to the rest of the site.
It was so realistic that none other than the newspaper's technology editor Nick Bilton posted the link on his Twitter account, calling the apparent defense of Julian Assange's controversial organization an "important piece."
Not so.
"THERE IS A FAKE OP-ED GOING AROUND UNDER MY NAME, ABOUT WIKILEAKS. EMPHASIS ON 'FAKE.' AS IN, NOT MINE," Keller, now a writer on the paper, tweeted to set the record straight.
Bilton followed up, tweeting: "I just deleted a tweet sent late last night that was from a fake NYT Bill Keller account."
One of the few clues to the forgery was the web address of http://www.opinion-nytimes.com/2012/07/29/opinion/keller-a-post-postscript.html, since the real website's URL begins with www.nytimes.com.
There was no immediate word on the identity of the pranksters, though the global hacking movement Anonymous has notched up high-profile hits on American institutions over the last year.
The New York Times is certainly no stranger to WikiLeaks: the US daily has been one of the principal outlets for Assange's mass dumping of hitherto secret government information from around the world.- AFP
September 06, 2013:
August 15, 2013:
July 21, 2013:
July 15, 2013:
June 19, 2013:
April 22, 2013: Television sports announcer Al Michaels was arrested for driving under the influence in Santa Monica, California, after making an illegal U-turn. Michaels, a veteran NBC sportscaster, was cooperative with officers and scheduled to appear in court on June 26. NBC is aware of the situation.
April 10, 2013:
March 11, 2013:
June 11, 2025 Pakistan celebrated a narrow win over Bangladesh, but beneath the jubilation lies a deeper crisis—from sidelined veterans to a collapsing domestic structure—signaling an urgent need for cricket reform.
June 11, 2025 Journalists walked out of the post-budget press conference in Islamabad to protest the absence of a technical briefing and the government's dismissive behavior, calling it unacceptable and intolerable.
May 31, 2025 Dr. Nauman Niaz has issued a defamation notice to Shoaib Akhtar over derogatory remarks made during a recent broadcast, reigniting a longstanding media feud between the two prominent figures in Pakistan.
May 30, 2025 The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has demanded the full repeal of PECA, citing its vague language, coercive powers, and threats to free speech and digital rights in Pakistan.
May 30, 2025 The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has condemned the murder of journalist Syed Mohammed Shah in Jacobabad, calling for urgent justice and improved safety for media professionals in Sindh.