An article saying “A Song of Ice & Fire” author George R. R. Martin was taken to the hospital after the Emmy Awards is “satire.”
The bogus article was published on the National Report, which doesn’t post real news stories.
“Sources close to George R.R. Martin have reported that the famed author and creative force behind the hit HBO series ”Game of Thrones“ was rushed to a Los Angeles area hospital early this morning. Reportedly, Mr. Martin became increasingly upset throughout the night over the ‘Game of Thrones’ Emmy shut out until he finally collapsed. Despite being nominated for several awards, the show did not fare well against primetime hit ”Breaking Bad,’” it says.
The article then offers fake quotes from an unnamed source.
However, the whole thing isn’t real and Martin is fine.
According to a disclaimer that used to be on the site, National Report is fake.
The disclaimer used to say, “DISCLAIMER: National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental . The views expressed by writers on this site are theirs alone and are not reflective of the fine journalistic and editorial integrity of National Report.”
And a real “editorial” from the National Report confirmed that the National Report publishes satirical news reports.
“Satire is not required to be humorous, nor was this particular post meant to be funny,” it reads. It adds: “The people of the modern world need to understand and develop the ability to corroborate information and not just accept information as true without further inputs. Absolutely baseless information is spread by ACTUAL news sources on a daily basis and have resulted in a serious divide without our country.”
But the article about Martin has thousands of “likes” and shares on Tuesday, and many people apparently believed it.
“This is devastating. I hope he can still finish the series. Stay calm, George! and keep writing!” one person wrote in the article’s comments section.
