"Seattle Newspaper Sabotaged"
Wednesday November 24, 8:07 pm Eastern Time
Seattle Newspaper Sabotaged
By PEGGY ANDERSEN
Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE (AP) -- Pranksters protesting next week's meeting of the World Trade Organization sabotaged copies of Wednesday's Seattle Post-Intelligencer by adding a four-page ''wrap'' with fake stories offering an anti-WTO spin.
''Boeing to move overseas'' trumpeted the headline on the lead story, which claimed the state's biggest employer is relocating to Indonesia. Joe Hill, a union organizer who was executed by firing squad in Utah early in the century, got the byline.
Other front-page headlines: ''Clinton pledges help for poorest nations,'' ''Economists fear global epidemic of underpollution'' and ''Monsanto patents food chain.''
Letters to the editor included one headlined: ''Having a conscience is technical barrier to trade,'' reflecting protesters' concerns about the WTO's authority to override laws of its 135 member nations if they hinder trade.
The P-I's managing editor, Ken Bunting, said the fake editions got into coin boxes on ferries and around Seattle and even into a few stores.
The newspaper was concerned that the fraudulent front was so well done, some readers might have thought it was the real deal -- despite the missing ''r'' in ''Seattle Post-Intelligence.''
The newspaper reported the guerrilla publishing effort to police.
The P-I has not yet determined how many papers got the wrap, but a news release from ''a group of media literacy activists called Wake Up!'' said thousands of copies of the ''special supplement'' were distributed.
The statement adds: ''While a few of the articles are fictional ... the underlying concerns are far too real.''
Contact telephone numbers provided on the news release ring through to fax machines or to a voice mailbox for a free fax and e-mail service.
More than 130 nations are expected to attend the trade talks, including China and possibly Cuba. The meeting opens Tuesday.
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