Martin Eisenstadt: The Man Who Fooled The Media — Just Not Carl Cameron

The New York Times Thursday identifies the man behind the elaborate hoax that tricked some members of the media into reporting that a McCain adviser named Martin Eisenstadt was behind the leaks that Sarah Palin didn't know whether Africa was a continent or a country.

According to the Times' Richard Perez-Pena, Eisenstadt is a fictional creation made up by two filmmakers:

Now a pair of obscure filmmakers say they created Martin Eisenstadt to help them pitch a TV show based on the character. But under the circumstances, why should anyone believe a word they say?

"That's a really good question," one of the two, Eitan Gorlin, said with a laugh.

(For what it's worth, another reporter for The New York Times is an acquaintance of Mr. Gorlin and vouches for his identity, and Mr. Gorlin is indeed "Mr. Eisenstadt" in those videos. He and his partner in deception, Dan Mirvish, have entries on the Internet Movie Database, imdb.com. But still. ...)

They say the blame lies not with them but with shoddiness in the traditional news media and especially the blogosphere.

"With the 24-hour news cycle they rush into anything they can find," said Mr. Mirvish, 40.

Mr. Gorlin, 39, argued that Eisenstadt was no more of a joke than half the bloggers or political commentators on the Internet or television.

However, while MSNBC — which ran with Eisenstadt's story, along with The New Republic — has retracted the story (that Eisenstadt was the McCain camp leak), Fox News won't be retracting Carl Cameron's original report about the Palin/Africa flap, because it did not come from Eisenstadt — which the Huffington Post was told on background earlier this week and which the filmmakers confirmed to TVNewser Thursday:

"To be very clear, no, we were not the source for Carl Cameron and never spoke to him," Mirvish tells TVNewser. "We took credit for his anonymous sourcing. If they were going to be cowards, then we figured we may as well step in."

Comments

[jrdenn]

Kelley O'Donell who traveled with the McCain team has told MSNBC that aides (not hoaxer) had repeated the Africa story to her as well. Aides had told O'Donnell that Palin truly didn't know whether Africa was Country or Continent.

[ErinBerin84]

yup. And the McCain camp said themselves (read it in a politico story the other day) that they considered Kelly O'Donnell to be one of the most accurate and objective reporters of the season (along with Chicago tribune's Jill Zucker and some other), so it's clear that aides were trash talking, whether or not it was true, and the fake blog just tried to get in on the game and fooled some.

[wantthetruth]

I can't wait for these "sources" to surface. More laughs.

[Bhola]

I can't vouch for MSNBC FOX and MSNBC are mirror images.

Eisenstadt the source for Sarah Palin Africa leak… and proud of it.

Funny thing is as Eisenstadt is deleting posts as angry people are flooding web site. Huff post is deleting when challenged for their accuracy or Fact checking( As if Huff Post care).

So yes, to be clear, last week I was the one who leaked those things to a producer at Fox News who works with Cameron. Carl and his producers are good guys, and I don’t want them to have to worry about protecting their sources (and going through the wringer ala Judith Miller or Matt Cooper) on something like this.

[1will]

Which of "The 57 States" was Palin in win she messed up the questions about Africa?

[Melizzy]

If that's the biggest gaffe he's made, guess what? You look foolish for holding onto it. :)

[Myshkin57]

They keep going back to the "57 states" well. That's all they have for two years.

[GrainneKathleen]

If you were campaigning nearly every day, all day for two years, I bet you would say some pretty silly things, too. Of course Obama knows how many states there are!

[jrdenn]

Right, because Obama doesn't know there's really only 50 states. And Obama couldn't have misspoke. Nope, that silly Barack Obama thinks there's 57 states. Pffft! What a socialist goofball that guy.

[oscartucker]

Republicans are holding on to the littlest details as gaffes. Someone should tell Palin that the election is over. She keeps talking about those same old "talking points" and attacks on President-Elect Obama. I suppose she thinks that she is endearing herself to the "base", but she is keeping hatred stirred up. I wonder if she thinks the same old stuff is going to work 4 years from now. Voters are just sick and tired of the same old mess. She is already running although she says she's not. Others want the position; it will be interesting to see what they do to each other. Sarah should be participating in the Govenor's Conference instead of doing so many interviews. She's missed both luncheons, where she could have talked with her colleagues and done some real work. She's selfish.

[GwenElle]

Barack was not asked how many states are in the union. If I remember correctly, he had campaigned in 47 states at the time he made the mis-statement. Neuroscience easily explains how 47 could be mis-spoken as 57. Here's how:

A memory structure in the brain strongly retains the knowledge that there are 50 states. This is information that can be recalled using rote memory. A tired and fatigued individual attempts to recall how many states he/she has visited. That information is not committed to long term memory, however it can be vaguely referenced through the short term memory structure of the brain. Yet another structure of the brain controls speech. Given the neural connections between these 3 structures (long term memory, short term memory and speech), the fatigued individual says 57 when actually attempting to articulate 47.

A physically exhausted person is also mentally exhausted. To even suggest that a graduate of Columbia and a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law does not know how many states are in the union is ludicrous.

What Palin knows is a far different matter than what she can recall. Knowledge is more than just memory. You first have to know in order to recall and articulate what you know. And while memory is a function of intelligence, it is not the thing itself.

[cybolt]

The one in which a) no one reads anything; b) there's never been a SCOTUS decision anyone can remember and c) the fundamentals of the economy are strong.

[phredralf]

The original story could be true and this one could be the hoax and so on. I'll just blame Palin anyway.

[mafina]

Palin is patently dumb and was not ready and will never be ready for this type of executive position, let alone the position she is in right now. This woman is being celebrated for her ignorance.

[Durango]

Isn't it amazing that ignorance is seen as a positive political trait?

[GrainneKathleen]

I am still trying to figure out how ignorance of the way our federal government works is a plus. Being a DC outsider is one thing. Being ignorant of the way the federal government works is another. We desperately need to start teaching civics in our schools again so we have a more educated electorate!

[Scoop82]

this is exactly the kind of fog people tried to perpetuate around Rather-gate. Rather's source turned out to be a fraud, but the essence of the story was true. However people disregarded the truth of the story because the word "hoax" got associated with the issue.

[redgriselda]

Huffington Post--I love this website, except when you are soooooo transparently competetive with msnbc. Have some dignity, jealousy doesn't become you.

[Scoop82]

People....read the story..

No one is claiming that the leak about Palins lack of knowledge is false. The story is about someone claiming to be the source of the leak being a hoaxer.

Palin not knowing Aftrica is not a country = true and leaked by unknown source
Person claiming to be source of leak to media = not the real leaker. It was someone trying to take credit for being the leaker, but it was a hoax

[wantthetruth]

The point of the story is not Palin.
The point of the story is MSNBC got taken for a ride.

Read: Mr. Gorlin, 39, argued that Eisenstadt was no more of a joke than half the bloggers or political commentators on the Internet or television.

[Myshkin57]

Right... but the facts need to be kept straight.

[ErinBerin84]

Shuster SAID DURING the segment that the blog was fake though. The blog wasn't their main story, they just used it as a teaser to go into the Palin discussion with strategists....the producer is stupid for not vetting it, but at least Shuster had the instinct to say that he was pretty sure that it as fake during the segment.

[wantthetruth]

"In fairness, it should be noted that Huffington Post writers have also fallen for Eisenstadt's tricks on a couple occasions."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/10/martin-eisenstadt-non-exi_n_142785.html

[manndan]

The Harding Institute? If that doesn't raise a red flag to look for a hoax a person is not a very discerning reader.

[Myshkin57]

Are people actually reading the article?

"To be very clear, no, we were not the source for Carl Cameron and never spoke to him," Mirvish tells TVNewser. "We took credit for his anonymous sourcing. If they were going to be cowards, then we figured we may as well step in."

The source of the MSNBC story was a hoax, not the Fox story.

[wantthetruth]

Both sources miraculously had the same story. One was a fake story and the other was true. That's weird.

"So yes, to be clear, last week I was the one who leaked those things to a producer at Fox News who works with Cameron." - Eitan Gorlin
http://www.eisenstadtgroup.com/

[ErinBerin84]

listen....the blog post came AFTER the Africa story had been in the news. Trying to take the credit for it. But the post was not up until networks had been on Carl's reporting on this for a week. I don't trust Carl, but Kelly O'Donnel of NBC, who the McCain camp said was one of their most "objective" reporters, said that aides told her the Palin/Africa story too, while the same aides also said that they gave her credit for sitting through long briefings....hopefully she knew that Africa was a continent, but it's just false to say that the blog was the original source of the story, if you read the article.

[Myshkin57]

I've responded to you over and over and still it doesn't get through. Sarah, is that you?

[Bluedog12]

Mr. Pat McCock will be disappointed as will Ms. Opheila Boobs.

[eugenegerard]

After watching Palin, I think this story is a hoax. Palin has to rebuild her tragic persona someway. Her stupidity wasn't the issue. Her lieing viciousness was.

[KayWrites]

No, she is stupid too.

[marymansour]

Sarah, despite the hoax, is still as dumb as a box of hair.

[wantthetruth]

Harding institude: http://www.hardinginstitute.org/4.html
Eisenstadt's blog: http://www.eisenstadtgroup.com/

He writes: So yes, to be clear, last week I was the one who leaked those things to a producer at Fox News who works with Cameron."

Eisenstadt = Eitan Gorlin
Partner in Hoax = Dan Mirvish

[Myshkin57]

"To be very clear, no, we were not the source for Carl Cameron and never spoke to him," Mirvish tells TVNewser. "We took credit for his anonymous sourcing. If they were going to be cowards, then we figured we may as well step in."

Read that. That claim, according to the "Eisenstadt' guys was a hoax as well. They claimed they were responsible for the Cameron story as a part of the hoax as well. Now they're admitting as much.

[wantthetruth]

Is the TVNewser interview a hoax? Or are you claiming that one to be real?

[vippy]

I am sure that Palin knew that Africa was a continent. I don't understand why people are making such
a big deal out of this. Something so simple, just does not make sense.

[ErinBerin84]

I sure hope so, for our sake. But anyway, aides WERE The original source of it, not the blog. I am over the Africa thing though, now it's being used as a strawman to distract from the CONFIRMED stuff she does not know. I wish the interviews she was doing now focused on her contradictions that are on record instead of her "striking back" against the rumors that are unconfirmed but are almost believable because of some of the other stuff she has said. Focus on the know.