An Iranian news agency reported on an article from the satirical newspaper The Onion about a fake story that said most Americans would prefer Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President Barack Obama.
“Unfortunately an incorrect item was released on our website on Friday which included a fake opinion poll,” the semi-official Fars News Agency, which has ties with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, said in a statement on Monday. “We offer our formal apologies for that mistake,” the statement adds.
The Onion article said that the “overwhelming majority of rural white Americans said they would rather vote” for Ahmadinejad than Obama, saying that “77 percent of rural Caucasian voters confirmed [they] would much rather go to a baseball game or have a beer with Ahmadinejad.”
Fars acknowledged the error but also said Western media outlets including the New York Times and the BBC have made mistakes. It cited a mistake made by the Times that used a fake image created by The Onion about a teen magazine, Tiger Beat, in 2011.
“All media, at least those you know like the BBC, CNN, etc., have had many goofs,” the news agency said. It added: “[Fars] makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of its reports, however very occasionally mistakes do happen.”
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
