I thought this episode was rather funny, because they found that a right wing fake news site was actually run by a liberal who wanted to prove there was right wing fake news (and that it would be shared on social media, which they ensured by spreading it themselves).

It turned out to be rather profitable for him.

The part I found hilarious is that there was one particular quote from the NPR coverage which spread like wildfire on social media - the one about how he tried to write fake news for liberals, but it just didn't catch on. Except that when I went looking for more information, one of the first successes I found reference to - via the Denver Post's article[1] about the FBI agent suicide fake - was "ATLANTA OFFICER KILLS BLACK WOMAN, INJURES CHILD, FOLLOWING BREASTFEEDING ARGUMENT"[2]. The site used was even stuffed full of the kind of conservative-targeted fake news that liberals mock conservatives for believing, and it still worked.

A self-confessed fake news creator made a dubious yet flattering claim about liberals not believing fake news because they were too smart, which fell apart upon a brief check, and liberals everywhere believed it. Brilliant.

[1] http://www.denverpost.com/2016/11/05/there-is-no-such-thing-...

[2] http://www.citypaper.com/blogs/the-news-hole/bcpnews-someone...

I don't think the claim falls apart on inspection - the fake FBI suicide story was shared 2.5 times more on Facebook than the fake Atlanta shooting story. Do you have any examples of liberal fake news that were as popular as conservative fake news?

FBI suicide, 569k: https://graph.facebook.com/?id=http://denverguardian.com/201...

Atlanta shooting, 222k: https://graph.facebook.com/?id=http://baltimoregazette.com/a...

This reminds me of a joke where an oilman goes to heaven and is warned by St Peter that because there are so many oilmen already in heaven, space for him will be rather limited. The oilman, undeterred, ventures to the oilmen district and proudly proclaims: "OIL DISCOVERED IN HELL!"

Everybody leaves in a mad rush, and soon the oilman is alone with a surprised St Peter who says that he may do as he pleases in this now-empty oilman district of heaven.

The oilman turns to St Peter and says: "You know, there might actually be some truth to that rumor..."

Yeah, I got the feeling that they fake news author was feeding his agenda with that narrative. It was really strange to see so many people taking the statements of a confessed liar at face value.

Naivity and foolishness are not partisan traits.

Yep, that's why I recommend it - I didn't want to spoil it though ;).