{"id":97522,"date":"2018-10-05T20:21:14","date_gmt":"2018-10-06T02:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/satirical-website-the-farmington-tribune-digs-at-four-corners-issues\/"},"modified":"2018-10-05T20:21:14","modified_gmt":"2018-10-06T02:21:14","slug":"satirical-website-the-farmington-tribune-digs-at-four-corners-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/satirical-website-the-farmington-tribune-digs-at-four-corners-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Satirical website \u2018The Farmington Tribune\u2019 digs at Four Corners issues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The Farmington Tribune is a Facebook page that posts satirical stories. Its unidentified creators say most people who read their stories understand they are not real, even though the page does not explicitly state that it\u2019s satire.<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A new Facebook page called \u201cThe Farmington Tribune\u201d that aims to be a satirical online news site for the Four Corners is causing some ruckus and confusion because its creators haven\u2019t explicitly identified its intent.<\/p>\n

The website\u2019s posts are often filled with borderline true stories that change only a few key details \u2013 using a different tactic than many similar satirical publications like The Onion<\/a> and Clickhole<\/a> utilize.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real danger is, this leads to misinformation,\u201d said Elizabeth Skewes, an associate professor of journalism and media studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder<\/a>, who reviewed the Tribune\u2019s Facebook page.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fine to do humor, but they ought to be more responsible about it, especially since some people are being misled. There\u2019s nothing there to indicate they\u2019re trying to be satire, and that\u2019s not in the interest of transparency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mostly, the Tribune posts fake stories about northern New Mexico issues. But Colorado has not been spared. This week<\/a>, the publication posted a fake story that said two Durango High School sophomore football players were charged with the sexual assault of two freshman players.<\/p>\n

The post goes on, without an indication of humor, that a Farmington attorney representing the victims filed a lawsuit against the high school and that one of the supposed perpetrators is the son of a La Plata County Sheriff\u2019s Office deputy. The story also says the case is being investigated by the Durango Police Department.<\/p>\n

After some detail about the \u201csexual assault,\u201d the Tribune writes that Durango School Superintendent \u201cTerry Goldstein\u201d declined to comment for the story but quoted him as saying \u201cthe safety and well-being of our students\u201d is top priority.<\/p>\n

The actual superintendent of Durango School District 9-R is Dan Snowberger.<\/p>\n

While some commenters understood that the story was satirical, many others did not.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am glad this was reported and an investigation is underway,\u201d one commenter wrote. \u201cFor the two freshman, it\u2019s not your fault and be strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Farmington Tribune Facebook page began posting satirical stories in June. To date, more than 2,500 people \u201clike\u201d the page and more than 2,600 follow it.<\/p>\n

Representatives behind the website agreed to answer questions from The Durango Herald<\/em> only via Facebook Messenger. They wrote that most of its contributors are local, but the group would not identify its members.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see no benefit in publicizing our identities due to the fact that we\u2019ve received several credible threats since our inception,\u201d the group wrote.<\/p>\n

When asked why the Tribune has nothing on its site that indicates stories posted are satire, the group responded: \u201cThe large majority of our followers understand the satirical nature of our page.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel no reason to explain this to every single person who simply reacts without checking facts for themselves,\u201d the group wrote. \u201cWe have made multiple posts that clearly identify our content as satire.\u201d<\/p>\n

But a review of the Facebook page tells a different story.<\/p>\n

On the \u201cAbout\u201d tab, The Tribune says<\/a>: \u201cIf you\u2019re looking for the truth, Farmington Tribune is the number one source for solid, uncompromising journalism in a world filled with fake news.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, numerous times when commenters question the veracity of a story, or ask if the Tribune is satire, the group responds that its news is real.<\/p>\n

On a Sept. 4 post about a Farmington resident under investigation for disturbing the habitat of a hawk, one commenter wrote, \u201cAs far as I can tell, this a fake news page.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tribune\u2019s response included a bio from its supposed parent company, Tribune Media International. Such a company does not exist.<\/p>\n

Paige Gray, a former assistant professor of English at Fort Lewis College<\/a> who is now a professor at Savannah College of Art & Design in Atlanta, said sites like The Farmington Tribune are a prime example of why people need to be more careful when consuming news in an age of widespread fake news.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to have your big media platforms that skewer national news, but having an outlet that skewers very local news is super niche and can be very confusing,\u201d Gray said.<\/p>\n

Writing satire can be incredibly difficult, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re playing with fire when it\u2019s not clearly enough ridiculing news stories,\u201d Gray said.<\/p>\n

On July 10, for instance, the Tribune posted that the Environmental Protection Agency was going to intentionally release mine waste into the Animas River. The story quoted real EPA representatives and officials in Silverton, including the town\u2019s mayor, Chris Tookey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were people questioning whether or not they\u2019re a true newspaper or not,\u201d Tookey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t a solution,\u201d one commenter wrote, \u201cthis is adding to the problem!\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the Tribune\u2019s more widely read stories was posted June 29, which said a bear was found dead from an apparent wolf attack near Aztec.<\/p>\n

Of the hundreds of comments, most indicated they believed the story was true. When questioned by readers, the Tribune replied: \u201cThis story has been independently verified by the Armenian Council for Truth in Journalism.\u201d<\/p>\n

On July 6, the Tribune\u2019s sister publication, the Denver Tribune, reported a similar story, except it said the attack happened near Evergreen. The story drew a similar reaction.<\/p>\n

Gray said if people aren\u2019t able to distinguish whether a Farmington Tribune story is true or false, and if there\u2019s no effort on the publication\u2019s part to identify itself as a satirical site, people can absorb wrong information.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat actions are these people going to take because of this misinformation?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

Facebook did not respond to The Durango Herald\u2019s request for comment on this story.<\/p>\n

In its response to Herald questions, the Tribune explained that \u201cmany of our articles have a very strong basis in truth, which explains the extreme level of discomfort that some of our readers have felt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFarmington Tribune was started with the intended purpose of encouraging people to re-examine the way they perceive truth in the media,\u201d the group wrote. \u201c\u2018Dig Deeper\u2019 has become an unofficial motto.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steven Zansberg, a media lawyer in Denver, said the Tribune\u2019s failure to explicitly disclose it is an attempt at comedy could be legally problematic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe general advice media lawyers like myself give \u2026 is the clearer you can make it, that it is satire or comedy, the safer you are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more you disguise parody or satire as something to be taken seriously, the riskier your activity becomes because you\u2019re purposefully creating the impression that what you\u2019re saying is true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Bulloch, downtown coordinator for the city of Farmington, was recently parodied in a post. He said Farmington residents have trouble distinguishing if the Facebook page is real or fake.<\/p>\n

Bulloch said if he sees a reader comment that takes a Tribune story to be true, he\u2019ll correct them and make it clear it\u2019s a joke. He said The Farmington Tribune\u2019s name also creates confusion because it plays on a real, now-closed newspaper, the Tri-City Tribune.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey really need to put a little thing on there that says this is satire because it is confusing people,\u201d Bulloch said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like the Onion, only less funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

jromeo@ durangoherald.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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