An article saying Dennis Rodman, the former Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs player, will meet with the leaders of ISIS (Islamic State) is satire.
The Rodman report was published on National Report, which only posts satire. “With only a handful of reporters present on Tuesday at the Los Angeles International Airport, Dennis Rodman announced his intentions to leave the United States to speak with leaders of ISIS face to face,” it reads.
The article then includes fake quotes from Rodman.
The National Report appears to be lampooning Rodman’s trip to North Korea a few months ago, where he met with its leader Kim Jong Un and played basketball.
The Rodman article had thousands of “likes” and shares as of Tuesday evening. On social media sites, many users appeared to believe the report or were confused.
But the National Report, which took its disclaimer down, is satirical.
The dislclaimer 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.”
For more evidence that the website is satirical, there was an article in August that explains what it’s trying to do, namely in reference to a viral, fake story about an NYPD officer shooting a breastfeeding baby. “Satire is not required to be humorous, nor was this particular post meant to be funny. Police brutality is a very real and very serious issue,” it says.
