On Tue, Apr 02, 2002 at 08:24:04PM +0000, tawesley@yahoo.com wrote:
I'm quite lost?? 'Spaghetti Incident'????
Bingo. Got one. :-) There is a long-running BBC current affairs documentary series called "Panorama". I'm trying to think of a foreign equivalent; I guess "60 Minutes" is probably closest. Anyway, back in 1957 when this happened, Panorama and BBC journalism in general was considered to be the utmost height of journalistic integrity. At the time, the programme was presented by the highly respectable Richard Dimbleby. On April Fools' Day, they broadcast a film about how good the Spaghetti Harvest was in the Alps on the Swiss/Italian border - including very convincing pictures of spaghetti growing on trees. Anyway, AIUI, they had to broadcast a retraction later because so many people were more willing to believe that spaghetti grew on trees, than were willing to believe that Panorama would broadcast a false story. It probably goes down as one of the most successful April Fools' jokes ever played. (don't forget that this was in 1957, when I believe that people were generally much less cynical about the media...) -- David Smith Work Email: Dave.Smith@st.com STMicroelectronics Home Email: David.Smith@ds-electronics.co.uk Bristol, England