Fake CNN Website Tries to Frame Hispanic Group for Wildfires

Posted by Lindsay Beyerstein at 2:04 PM on October 29, 2007.

This post, written by Lindsay Beyerstein, originally appeared on Majikthise

Speaking of fake news... Someone registered the domain name "cnnheadlienews" on Oct. 25 2007, to run a bogus news story alleging that Hispanic separatist group had claimed responsibility for setting the California wildfires.

The page is dummied up to look like a CNN web page. There's no other content on the site. A WHOIS search reveals that the page is registered to something called "Bleach Boy Manufacturing."

(click for larger version)

There is no such corporation on file with the Tennessee Secretary of State.

Katharine Zalecki of Huffington Post reports that some anti-immigrant websites cited the story as fact, without noticing or caring that the url was a dead giveaway.

The author of the site "Americanandproud" declared, "I am going to wait until all the facts are in, but it appears the first major shot of the next Mexican/American war has just been fired."

A domain name search for "cnnheadlienews" shows the site is registered to a company with a Nashville, Tennessee address called Bleachboy Heavy Manufacturing Concern. The website associated with Bleachboy, BBoy.net, is a homepage that cycles through four different logos. There's no other information on the site except for a warning on sweatshop products, a note that says "thank you for the traffic," and the ever-banal phrase, "spring is in the air."

Tagged as: immigration, xenophobia, cnn, california wildfires

Lindsay Beyerstein a New York writer blogging at Majikthise.