Reporter's Notebook

The Tiffin Bigfoot Research Organization has been thrilled by the response from the public after an article published Tuesday in the Advertiser-Tribune. Unfortunately, the organization is, like Bigfoot, not real. For context, I was excited to begin this week with a zany article after a heavy week of election coverage. I got a tip from my editor, who sent over this through an impressive press release. While I may be fresh, I've written plenty of articles and I did my research. I couldn't find anything on the internet about the group: no website, no Fakebook page. Not too strange for a small local organization. A Google search did confirm, however, that the Oscada, Michigan Bigfoot Bash in September was real, and was sold out. So, I edited what I had from the release and hit "send." Tuesday afternoon, I got the message. I recognized a contact from the Bigfoot group, who had identified me as a reporter for the A-T, and asked if we could speak on the phone. Worried I had accidentally insulted someone or missed a piece of information, I anxiously called him back. He opened with. "You have no idea what's going on, do you?" One of the scariest phrases for a reporter to hear. We were pranked! The "founders" of the Bigfoot Organization were actually a group of friends who took a trip to North Carolina. While they were gone, a group of their friends back home took the opportunity to post the fake press release to Fakebook. The "founders" are part of a close group of friends who have been pulling similar pranks on each other for over six years. They got a kick out of the phone calls and support they received on Tuesday, and are planning their own prank for "revenge" on the initial press release writer. If I had managed to find the original prank post first, perhaps I would have thought twice about the article. A few sleuths in the comments on the initial post realized that it was too good to be true, including our own reporter, Vicki Johnson. If you're ever confronted with something that seems too good to be true, it's best to hear it directly from the source. Don't believe everything you read on Fakebook. As to whether or not I am a Bigfoot believer: If there's one thing living in Tiffin has taught me, it's "never say never."