The Real Pete Kistler Story

I spent about six months in the USA some time ago and in most respects really enjoyed myself. One of my favourite discoveries was a program on NPR called All Things Considered. This program as well as meeting some Americans for real did a lot to break down the perception that most Americans are thick-witted red necks.

For me, its things like NPR in America, ABC here in Australia and of course the BBC, that are symptons of a healthy democracy. If rights and freedoms are to be eroded, it's independant channels like these that will be the first against the firing squads.

ABC radio occasionally repeats All Things Considered, but it's scheduling has to fight with the sitting of parliment. I know which I'd rather listen too.

But the good news is it's online. And one of the stories today (which is yesterday for the USA) was about a guy called Pete Kistler and the company he has set up.

So the story goes, Pete Kistler went for a job he was suprised not to get, and later found out from a friend that the interviewers had googled him up and found a drug dealer by the same name, and got confused. (Doesn't that sound just a little incredible to you? It did to me.)

This story has been repeated to infinitum on the web by a bunch of parrots. But the NPR guy is not a parrot, he is a journalist, a real journalist, and he checked the facts.

And guess what, the whole story is a fake. No such Pete Kistler has been recorded in any jurisdiction. The stuff on the web was faked for any one who bothered to check the story online, which is as far as any parrots got if at all.

The story was created just to promote the company this bloke set up that offers a service that is supposed to do something about similar problems, starting at $1000 (USA) a year. It's the sort of story that ensured they got free advertising and promotion by all those parrots who loved a good story but didn't check their facts.

(And by the way in case your wondering I classify myself as a parrot too, I'm not a journalist).

The question left is would you trust your reputation protection to someone who resorts to fraud to promote himself and his business.