Analysis of Martin Eisenstadt's Hoax

Martin Eisenstadt hoax. What was it? What does it say about journalism today, in particular the coverage of the 2008 presidential race?

As noted at ABC News (click for specific link to article), Martin Eisenstadt is just a fraud created by two filmmakers, Eitan Gorlin and Dan Mirvish, in an attempt to highlight today's media's "liberal use of anonymous sources." The two men essentially tricked the media into believing that Eisenstadt was a key political insider.

They have been using the fraudulent Eisenstadt through blog postings and video clips, which the media incorporated into their reports.

Of course, the most famous and recent instance of this was when Fox News reported that an anonymous John McCain aides stated that Sarah Palin doesn't know Africa is a continent. The suspicious "Martin Eisenstadt" came forward as the anonymous source. But after further investigation, William K. Wolfrum of the Shakespeare's Sister concluded that "There is no M. Thomas Eisenstadt. There is no Eisenstadt Group. There is no Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy. M. Thomas Eisenstadt is a hoax."

I was later revealed that Eisenstadt was not the true source of Fox News correspondent Carl Cameron, which suggests that the Sarah Palin allegation may still be true.

It is also significant to note that Eisenstadt's previous hoax in which "he attempted to promote a smear aimed at Samuel Joe Wurzelbacher ("Joe the plumber"), whose verbal confrontation with Barack Obama had become the centerpiece of the McCain campaign's effort to paint Obama as a socialist who wants to raise everyone's taxes. Eisenstadt falsely claimed that Wurzelbacher had hidden connections to both the McCain campaign and to "Charles Keating of the Keating 5 scandal." That of course, was a complete lie, but it convinced a number of people.

More importantly, the Martin Eisenstadt hoax shows "the media's willingness to report (and the public's willingness to believe) unverified falsehoods." It shows that the media, perhaps in an effort to publish news quickly.

Works Cited:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=6250151&page=1

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/10/martin-eisenstadt-non-exi_n_142785.html

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/11/14-3