When a Washington Post columnist fell for a fake news story on the "satire" site Daily Currant a few weeks ago, Breitbart.com's John Nolte suggested the paper was without "a shred of self-awareness, integrity, and dignity" and wrote that it "never... let facts get in the way of a good Narrative."

Of course, that was before his own outlet got fooled by the exact same "satire" site. Over the weekend, Breitbart.com's Larry O'Connor published a post based on a Daily Currant item with the title "Paul Krugman Declares Personal Bankruptcy." The Daily Currant had its piece picked up by an Austrian magazine, and in turn by a blog called The Prudent Investor, which is republished on Boston.com (a property owned by Krugman's employers at The New York Times). "Krugman Files for Bankruptcy," O'Connor crowed:

In his post, O'Connor jabbed Krugman for supposedly spending "$84,000 in one month" on Portuguese wines and "a dress from the Victorian period," and concluded that "apparently this Keynsian [sic] thing doesn't really work on the micro level."

O'Connor's post was deleted without explanation. (Later, on Twitter, he wrote that he'd trusted Boston.com.) In a post on his blog today, Krugman admitted that he'd seen the false reports but kept quiet because he "wanted to wait and see which right-wing media outlets would fall for the hoax."

This is your monthly reminder that The Daily Currant is not a news source but a "satire" site whose output is largely limited to semi-believable political wish-fulfillment articles distinguished by a commitment to a complete absence of what most people would recognize as "jokes."

[Media Matters]