Here’s a cached copy of a news story, published in the Boston Globe, about a seal hunt that reportedly took place earlier this week. Excerpt:

Over the vigorous protests of international animal-welfare organizations, the largest seal hunt in a half-century resumed yesterday off Newfoundland and Labrador.

Hunters on about 300 boats converged on ice floes, shooting harp seal cubs by the hundreds, as the ice and water turned red. Most of the seals were less than 6 weeks old.

Graphic. Horrible. And…totally fake:

The story datelined Halifax, Nova Scotia described in graphic detail how the seal hunt began on Tuesday, with water turning red as hunters on some 300 boats shot harp seal cubs “by the hundreds.”

The problem, however, was that the hunt did not begin on Tuesday; it was delayed by bad weather and was scheduled to start on Friday, weather permitting, the Globe said in an editor’s note.

Stewart could not immediately be reached for comment.

The newspaper, which received a complaint from the Canadian government, said it should not have published the story and should have insisted on attribution for details because the writer was not reporting from the scene.

“Details included the number of hunters, a description of the scene, and the approximate age of the cubs. The author’s failure to accurately report the status of the hunt and her fabrication of details at the scene are clear violations of the Globe’s journalistic standards,” it added.

For once, Canada’s right.

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More recent fake news from the professionals:

Sy Hersh’s fudge
AP: The hearings that hadn’t started yet
AP and the crowd that didn’t boo
Mitch Albom wasn’t there
CBS: Rathergate, Obitgate
New Republic: Stephen Glass made it up
USA Today: Jack Kelley made it up
Boston Globe: Fake GI rape photos
Boston Globe again: Patricia Smith made it up; Mike Barnicle made it up
NYT: Jayson Blair wasn’t there
WaPo: Janet Cooke wasn’t there

And more:

LATimes: The Local Liberty blog points to another possible Jayson Blair in Los Angeles.

LATimes again: Robert Scheer made it up

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