The Daily Currant

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|

The Daily Currant

Type of site

| Blog
Owner| Currant Daily
URL| currantdaily.com
Commercial| Yes
Launched| July 2012
Current status| offline

The Daily Currant was an American satirical news blog that focused on politics, technology, and entertainment.[1] A number of its satirical stories have been taken for true news reports by press.[2]

The Daily Currant was a competitor to The Onion. According to Quantcast, the site garnered over 1.5 million page views a month.[3]

As of November 22, 2016, the site is no longer in operation.[4]

## Content[edit]

Several Daily Currant articles have been reported by established news organizations, sometimes as fact.

### "Rick Santorum on Grindr"[edit]

On July 3, 2012, the site published a satirical article claiming that Rick Santorum has been caught using gay dating app Grindr by a journalist during an interview; in the article, Santorum admitted to using the app, but stated that he thought it was for finding the nearest coffee shop.[5] Mashable later published an article "Satirical Post About Santorum and Grindr Fools the Web".[6]

### "George Bush Accidentally Votes for Obama"[edit]

On November 6, 2012, the site published a satirical article claiming that former president George W. Bush had accidentally voted for Barack Obama because he couldn't figure out how to properly use his voting machine.[7] The article was reported as fact by news outlets in Texas,[8] "went viral" on the internet,[9][10] and appeared on the website of La Repubblica, Italy's largest national newspaper.[11]

### Todd Akin hoax[edit]

Another story to receive wide publicity and belief was "Todd Akin Claims Breastmilk Cures Homosexuality", attributing beliefs to the conservative US congressman Todd Akin.[12] The article was widely shared on social media, with many people believing it was true.[13]

### "Paul Krugman Declares Personal Bankruptcy"[edit]

On March 6, 2013, the site published a satirical article which said that the Nobel Prize–winning economist Paul Krugman had filed for bankruptcy.[14] Breitbart mistook the story as being true; it later deleted the post without explanation.[15][16][17]

### "Message from God on Mars"[edit]

Viral e-mails and Facebook posts claimed in 2013 that NASA's Curiosity rover had found gigantic stone tablets in a cave near Aeolis Mons that were marked with the Ten Commandments and the phrase "I Am Real". However, this was a hoax that originated as a satirical Daily Currant article.[18]

### "Marijuana Overdoses Kill 37 in Colorado on First Day of Legalization"[edit]

A story concocted shortly after recreational marijuana became purchasable in Colorado claimed that 37 people had died of marijuana overdose thus far, with the death toll expected to reach as high as 300 by the following week. The article contained numerous references to fictional characters including one to Breaking Bad's Jesse Pinkman. The article's satirical nature was not understood by some, including the Swedish Minister for Justice, Beatrice Ask,[19] and Annapolis Police Department Chief Michael A. Pristoop.[20]

## See also[edit]

* List of satirical magazines
* List of satirical news websites
* List of satirical television news programs

## References[edit]

1. ^ About The Daily Currant, December 04, 2012
2. ^ Bogira, Steve (10 December 2012). "Parodies lost: why satire must be banned from the Internet". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
3. ^ Quantcast: The Daily Currant Quantcast, December 04, 2012
4. ^ The Quiet Death of ‘The Daily Currant’, Patient Zero in the Fake News Epidemic Vulture, November 22, 2016
5. ^ Santorum Claims He Thought Grindr Was a Coffee App The Daily Currant, July 3, 2012
6. ^ Satirical Post About Santorum and Grindr Fools the Web Mashable, July 3, 2012
7. ^ "George Bush Accidentally Votes For Obama" The Daily Currant, November 6, 2012
8. ^ "Presidential Election 2012: Daily Currant Jokes George W. Bush Accidentally Voted For President Obama". International Digital Times. November 7, 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
9. ^ Lee, Ben (Nov 8, 2012). "George W Bush 'accidental vote for Barack Obama' is hoax". Digital Spy.
10. ^ Culp, Cindy V (November 6, 2012). "Nonsense alert: Satirical website posts George W. Bush hoax". Waco Tribune. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
11. ^ “Bush vota Obama per sbaglio”: Repubblica.it rilancia, ma è satira Il Fatto Quotidiano, July 7, 2012
12. ^ Bennett-Smith, Meredith (2012-08-28). "Todd Akin Hoax: Daily Currant Satire Site Convinces Twitter That Congressman Believes Breast Milk Cures Homosexuality". Huffington Post.
13. ^ "Why We're More Likely Than Ever Before To Believe Fake News". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. September 7, 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
14. ^ "Paul Krugman Declares Personal Bankruptcy". 6 March 2013.
15. ^ Voorhees, Josh (March 11, 2013). "No Breitbart, Paul Krugman Hasn't Filed For Bankruptcy". Slate. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
16. ^ Bump, Philip (March 11, 2013). "Breitbart Duped by Krugman Bankruptcy — as Reported by Joke Website It Loves". The Atlantic.
17. ^ Aymong, Maryalice (March 10, 2013). "Too good to check? Breitbart runs with fake Krugman bankruptcy story". MSNBC. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
18. ^ "NASA Finds Message from God on Mars - Hoax Analysis". 17 July 2013.
19. ^ Victor Stenquist: "Beatrice Ask hånad efter satirmissen." ("Beatrice Ask mocked after misunderstood satire.") Aftonbladet 6 January 2014.
20. ^ Jackson, Alex: "Annapolis police chief apologizes for citing hoax story in testimony against marijuana legalization." "The Capital Gazette" 26 February 2014.

## External links[edit]

* Official website