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61
obstacles. This suggestion may be unusual, but these odious crimes may require punishment outside the norm. This should be available in the courts and an optional portion of plea agreements between involved parties.177
The media is another aspect of all types of hoaxes that should be addressed. While there was national media attention as well as hundreds of articles written on the Wendy’s hoax, there were very few articles and only local news coverage of those instances where a real finger was actually found in the salad or frozen custard.178 These cases happened following the Wendy’s hoax. This raises questions. Did the timing of the hoax change the response of the media?179 Because the media was fooled by the hoax, were they leery of reporting future incidents? Did it cause authorities to investigate with fewer resources and less vigor? Did it cause police to initially question the victim’s integrity rather than seek a swift resolution?
While the media once attempted to report factual news, more and more sensationalism is coveted. Outlandish accounts of stories such as needles in Pepsi cans and fingers in chili make for top rated sensational journalism. If these were stories of alien babies, they would lack the believability factor and would receive no coverage. Accounts of cooked fingers and mice in burritos are not only believable but play on basic human fears of what might take place during processing. The media appears to contribute to these fears by presenting stories as factual, even
177 Reference Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s The Black Swan, and his ideas of thinking beyond normal expectations. Hoaxes present situations where punishment may need to include options beyond the normal realm.
178 See Applebee’s and Frozen Custard accounts of actual finger parts found in food on pages 51, 52 above.
179 Media may have been gun shy about covering other reports of fingers in food since they were taken in by the hoax. Did the timing of the Wendy’s hoax prevent the media from covering these other claims that took place after Wendy’s incident?
Object Description
| Title | An argument for the criminal hoax |
| Author | Pellegrini, Laura A. |
| Author email | user1963@yahoo.com; teachpolsci@yahoo.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Political Science |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2008-08-20 |
| Date submitted | 2008 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2008-10-13 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Renteln, Alison Dundes |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Wong, Janelle S. Newland, Chester A. |
| Abstract | Hoaxes are part of the fabric of history. While many provide humor and lighthearted joy, the criminal hoax does not. To date, researchers have included aspects of the criminal hoax in larger academic works. This is an original typology that sets forth the criminal hoax as a distinct part of the larger field of law and public policy. This work provides newly created definitions including four distinct categories of hoaxes: the monetary hoax, the attention getter hoax, the hate crime hoax and the racial hoax. It further illustrates these types with actual detailed accounts of hoaxes and provides insights to each one. It makes policy recommendations concerning the four categories of needs: 1. legislative action, 2. a nationwide statistical database of hoax events, 3. media involvement, and 4. law enforcement training and action to deal with criminal hoaxes. Finally, it recommends further research to identify the causes and motivations of vipers. The ultimate goal of this project is to find ways to eliminate criminal hoaxes. |
| Keyword | criminal hoax; hoax categories |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m1659 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Pellegrini, Laura A. |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Pellegrini-2397 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume26/etd-Pellegrini-2397.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 67 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 61 obstacles. This suggestion may be unusual, but these odious crimes may require punishment outside the norm. This should be available in the courts and an optional portion of plea agreements between involved parties.177 The media is another aspect of all types of hoaxes that should be addressed. While there was national media attention as well as hundreds of articles written on the Wendy’s hoax, there were very few articles and only local news coverage of those instances where a real finger was actually found in the salad or frozen custard.178 These cases happened following the Wendy’s hoax. This raises questions. Did the timing of the hoax change the response of the media?179 Because the media was fooled by the hoax, were they leery of reporting future incidents? Did it cause authorities to investigate with fewer resources and less vigor? Did it cause police to initially question the victim’s integrity rather than seek a swift resolution? While the media once attempted to report factual news, more and more sensationalism is coveted. Outlandish accounts of stories such as needles in Pepsi cans and fingers in chili make for top rated sensational journalism. If these were stories of alien babies, they would lack the believability factor and would receive no coverage. Accounts of cooked fingers and mice in burritos are not only believable but play on basic human fears of what might take place during processing. The media appears to contribute to these fears by presenting stories as factual, even 177 Reference Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s The Black Swan, and his ideas of thinking beyond normal expectations. Hoaxes present situations where punishment may need to include options beyond the normal realm. 178 See Applebee’s and Frozen Custard accounts of actual finger parts found in food on pages 51, 52 above. 179 Media may have been gun shy about covering other reports of fingers in food since they were taken in by the hoax. Did the timing of the Wendy’s hoax prevent the media from covering these other claims that took place after Wendy’s incident? |
