OpinionViewpointsRecalling Two Famous HoaxesTwo fake stories—a funny one in the UK, a deadly one in China—illustrate the power of mediaCopyFacebookXTruthGettrLinkedInTelegramEmailSaveA paramilitary police officer stands guard in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, on March 11, 2018. Greg Baker/AFP via Getty ImagesBy Thomas Sterling4/1/2020Updated: 4/7/2020PrintCommentaryIn the early years of television, the BBC ran a sober documentary about the year’s harvest in Switzerland. The crop: spaghetti grown on trees.