16/04/2008

Spike is grateful to the MediaGuardian for this titbit: “Churnalism alert! Did anyone read that story printed in British newspapers this weekend about a Bulgarian man who swapped his wife for a goat? It ran online on the websites of the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mirror and the Daily Record.

“The story said that farmer Stoil Panayotov had exchanged his third wife with an eight-year-old goat at a livestock market in Plovdiv, central Bulgaria, because she could not get pregnant. Readers, can you see where this is heading?

“The story was completely made up. Bulgarian daily, Standart, said the story was an old April Fool's joke that reappeared every April 1, while locals in Plovdiv have been left outraged by it.

“One told the newspaper: ‘It's complete nonsense. This is not Zanzibar, where people exchange goats for women! They do not even know that there is no animal market here.’ Another said: ‘It's a pretty old story, and shows up every year on April 1 - All fools day. And it is only fools that fall for stories like these.’

“Fools and British hacks, apparently.”

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