Yellowstone will blow again no telling when.
So read the headline atop a story about geological goings-on in the Norris Geyser Basin at Yellowstone National Park. The story, written by Scott Canon of The Kansas City Star’s National Desk, was originally published in The Star on Oct. 7. Problem is, that wasn’t our headline.
The story and controversial headline have set off a flurry of spam, Internet discussion groups and amateur geologist Web logs. The spam letter attributes the headline to The Kansas City Star, and adds that when Yellowstone blows, geologists are saying that every living thing within six hundred miles is likely to die.
The spam e-mail also is referenced on Snopes.com, the trusted urban legends Web site. Without mentioning The Star as the origin of the real story, Snopes debunked the legend that is making its way to your e-mail inbox.
When the spam arrived in Kansas City, some readers contacted The Star, angry that we hadn’t done more about the Yellowstone catastrophe.
Krys Reese of StarInfo, the information store at The Star, took one call. His biggest concern was whether there was any truth to the story. I told him to read the original story because there were big holes in the e-mail, she said, adding that the caller still seemed to have some doubt.
When it comes to e-mail, (people) believe it all, she said.
The origin of this Internet tale and the misleading headline appear to have a common thread. After a Google search of about 20 Internet discussion pages, I noticed a trend. They all linked to azcentral.com, the Web site of the Arizona Republic newspaper. The Republic published Canon’s story Oct. 19 with the new headline in the back of its A-section, and azcentral.com posted it on the Web. At least five other newspapers also published Canon’s story, but it’s the Republic’s headline that the spam letter cites, and it’s azcentral.com that the discussion groups link to (the story has expired from the site).
Editors at The Republic were unavailable for comment.
Rest assured. Yellowstone isn’t going to blow in your lifetime. Canon’s story said so. And Snopes.com posted that the U.S Geological Survey says so.
Sure, I’ve seen Volcano and Dante’s Peak. In the movies, officials always deny an impending eruption. In fact, Canon has received e-mails from readers across the country, some who believe that he’s either helping the government whitewash the Yellowstone story, or that he’s an unwitting dupe.
I actually started writing a response that said the Trilateral Commission would take me away to some gulag if I revealed the truth. But I decided not to send it, Canon said. In case his humor is lost on anyone, he is kidding.
Canon said he’s a little surprised by all the fuss. It doesn’t bother me so much. Who reads spam?
Oh, that fan
I love it when young people think. I received an e-mail from Alyssa Streicher, a seventh-grader from Lake Villa, Ill., asking about a journalism ethical dilemma:
My mass communications class has been discussing how the Chicago Sun-Times identified the fan who tried to catch the foul ball in the championship series between the Cubs and the Marlins. Would you have outed (a Royals fan) in your newspaper?
The issue of naming the Cubs fan is perfect for a classroom debate. It has all the elements: sports, fans, a cliffhanger and a curse (the curse of the Cubbies).
Well, Alyssa, here are the facts. The Star did not print the fan’s name in its morning editions. By late afternoon, the fan had released a statement, and The Star ran his name the next day.
Sports Editor Mike Fannin said the Royals and the Cubs are like apples and oranges. The Royals don’t have the rich legacy of choking like the Cubs do. That’s why the fan thing was such a big deal. But at the end of the day, if a fan played a major and/or controversial role in a playoff game, yes, we’d probably write a story about it. How could you not?
Now, on the other hand, I don’t think we’d excoriate the fan like the Chicago media did.
