Romenesko spotted a story in the Fresno Bee wherein the paper had to admit it was taken in by a tale of a "fat, blind goldfish rescued off a lawn and reunited with his owner." The original story is here. From the report about the hoax:
Did you hear the one about the fat, blind goldfish rescued off a lawn and reunited with his owner?
Turns out it was more than just a fish story. It was a hoax.
Wednesday -- when The Bee published an article about Charley the goldfish's reunion with his owner -- some readers called to blow holes in the story.
Charley is real. So are Lori Igasan and Bernadette Planting, the two women featured in the article. But they're not strangers to each other, as they told reporter Will Albritton, and good old Charley never was lost or discovered on Igasan's lawn.
"Journalists are trained to be skeptical, but at some point we have to take people at their word," said Betsy Lumbye, executive editor and senior vice president of The Bee. "We're disappointed that these ladies weren't honest, and disappointed that we didn't catch the hoax."
Both women said they meant no harm with their yarn, which started with a classified ad in The Bee and achieved minor notoriety on "Late Show with David Letterman."
To Igasan and Planting, friends for several years, it was simply a joke.
"It was not our intention to hurt anybody," said Igasan, who launched the hoax with an ad that read: "Found: Large, obese goldfish. Approx 11yrs old, blind as a bat."
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