MoveOn admits to defacing Fox News HQ in prank

[Playinghardball]

Source: Raw Story
By Sahil Kapur

WASHINGTON – The progressive advocacy group MoveOn.org admitted Wednesday to pulling a prank that splayed anti-conservative slogans along the ticker outside Fox News's Manhattan headquarters, the Huffington Post reports.

"We are being lied to," the electronic message board read briefly. "Rightwingers are destroying the middle class and trying to kill our unions... We are not broke. We will rise up. We will fight back. We will spread the truth."

The video, posted to YouTube last week, garnered over 300,000 hits. Fox News said it was a hoax, and until today it was unclear who was responsible.

Now MoveOn is using the prank as a launching pad for a broad anti-austerity campaign, set to launch June 23, with involvement from ex-White House adviser Van Jones and The Roots. The group's executive director Justin Ruben told HuffPost's Sam Stein that it "will be the largest economic campaign we have ever run," aimed at shifting the political discussion from austerity to jobs.

Watch the video that caused the stir, via YouTube user hiropro999

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/06/08/moveon-admits-to-defacing-fox-news-hq-in-prank/

[Atman]

1. Caused a hell of a stir here on DU...I know, I first posted it.

Long thread, most people calling it a fake. Just goes to show, DU has more "experts" on an given subject than just about anyplace on Earth.

.

[Maru Kitteh]

5. My favorites are the experts in everything, all rolled into one.

The (sometimes retired) medical professionals who are experts of law AND physics AND nuclear science AND culture AND meteorology AND history!

How lucky are we?

[Scuba]

10. You're welcome.

[Renew Deal]

9. I walk by that sign a lot and can tell you it's a fake.

The letter color they use is red. The video shows yellow before the purported hijacking. The letters are also too smooth in the video.

[ceile]

2. So it was real...

:thumbsup:

[itsrobert]

3. So is Fox News going to file a lawsuit?

Possible. I am sure they are looking into it.

[TheWraith]

4. Why the fuck would they do that?

They're opening themselves up to a shitload of civil liability, not to mention the fact that it's probably going to become a right wing propaganda tool to show the left's "criminal behavior."

[Maru Kitteh]

6. My first thought as well.

Funny little (if somewhat childish) joke, if you get lucky enough not to get caught. Incredibly dumb stunt to admit to.

[Vanje]

7. I would've hoped that Moveon.org......

would go for a more professional sort of videographer that that hyperventilating teenager with the short shorts.

(great butt though.)

[AmericaIsGreat]

8. I totally thought it was fake

Looked fake and sounded fake.

Hmm, guess I was wrong.

In that case, I'd like to ask what the fuck MoveOn was talking about when they put in the ticker that America is not broke and twice as rich as China. I know we're not technically "broke" but twice as rich as China? Is that true?

[Brickbat]

11. The HuffPo story says that the video is the prank. The video was made to look like the ticker had

been hacked. This news story is just saying that MoveOn is the one that made the video.

ETA: This Rawstory rewrite is just not very clear on what happened, IMO.

[snooper2]

14. That's because "Raw"story sucks ass...

:hi:

[Brickbat]

16. Yeah, I don't usually point that out, but it seems like people needed it this time.

[joeybee12]

12. "Defacing"? Hardly the correct word to use...nt

[Atman]

15. Agreed...nothing was "defaced."

And it does seem to be some pretty shoddy reporting on Raw Story's part. The wrote it as if to appear the MoveOn was taking responsibility for actually hacking the ticker, not posting a video on YouTube.

.

[annabanana]

13. Oh brother.. Lots of CONCERN on this thread...

It was a very funny, harmless prank. There was no property damage.. just some red faces and a little truth leaking out..

too much hyperventilation here...

[Dreamer Tatum]

17. So when Fox hires someone to destroy their website...all's fair, right?

Idiots. Used to be relevant.