There were two intricate media pranks in the press this week. First: after months of preparation, 1.2 million copies of a fake New York Times featuring progressive wet dream headlines were distributed around the country in an elaborate scheme that reportedly involved thousands of volunteers. The prank was pulled off by the international imposture activist troupe The Yes Men.

Second: it turns out that the source of the "Palin didn't know that Africa is a continent" leak from the McCain camp was actually the work of an imaginary friend named Martin Eisenstadt, of the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy. Eisenstadt and the Harding Institute were fabricated by a pair of filmmakers who gave their story the credibility needed to dominate cable and the blogosphere by building a web site and faking some YouTube clips. Lest you think the Harding Institute's name was a giveaway, remember that The Hoover Institution actually exists and is at Stanford omg wtf lol. {Ed. note: We still choose to believe Sarah Palin thinks Africa is a country. It just made us too happy.} Note that the NYTimes prank involved extensive time, effort, and probably money. It generated some solid chatter, becoming popular online around mid-morning, but likely didn't fool anyone for more than 30 seconds and most people will have forgotten it 20 minutes from now. The Palin / Africa prank, on the other hand, has been part of the conventional wisdom in American politics for several days. It was astounding but, God help us, believable. Ostensibly reputable news outlets played along and amplified it. As has been reported, political misinformation can be extremely difficult to dislodge, even when directly refuted. My guess is that "she didn't know that Africa is a continent" will remain a part of the conversation as long as Palin does. We're going to see more of this as the costs of producing media that can pass for professional quality approach zero and the required skills become more or less ubiquitous. My guess is that the 2012 equivalent of the Obama / Madrassa emails will look a bit more like this.