海角大神

The arrest of a 16-year-old Washington Township, N.J., boy for saying 鈥淎ll black people, leave the store now鈥� over a Wal-Mart public-address system is, in retrospect, in the same family of ill-considered pranks that might鈥檝e been used by a member of the Brat Pack in a 1980s John Hughes film.

But days after a government statement that at least one report of a runway Toyota Prius was also, if not a prank, at least solely driver error, the Wal-Mart arrest shows that, in some cases of apparent corporate negligence or even racism, the media could use a little more skepticism.

鈥淛ournalism schools are supposed to teach that skepticism is paramount,鈥� , director of the nonprofit Independent Journalism Project, about a questionable claim of a stuck Toyota gas pedal in California. 鈥淵et comments on Web sites across the country reveal that practically everyone thought the Prius incident was a hoax 鈥� though they couldn't prove it 鈥� except for the media.鈥�

Police booked the Wal-Mart prankster, who was not named, on charges of harassment and bias intimidation, which could land him a year in juvenile detention. Police did not give the race of the boy.

Satuday's arrest shows how consumer pranksters can unfairly kick a company even when it鈥檚 down, creating a public relations disaster and costing a corporation dearly even when it鈥檚 done nothing at all wrong.

Many media outlets quickly assumed the worst in the Wal-Mart incident. Gothamist ran the headline, 鈥�.鈥�

Mr. Fumento writes that the lack of skepticism about another recent claim of a runaway Toyota, this one in California, is 鈥渟tunning.鈥� In the California incident, a man traveled for 20 minutes at high speed, unable, he claimed, to brake or shut his Prius down, before a police officer in a cruiser helped him come to a stop. The investigation into that case is still ongoing.

Claiming that the man's story doesn't make sense, Fumento writes, 鈥淚t's a Toyota media feeding frenzy and the media aren't about to let little things like incredible stories and readily-refutable claims get in the way."

That鈥檚 not to say corporations don鈥檛 invite media criticism 鈥� and even hoaxes. So far, accelerator problems have been in the US, and Toyota鈥檚 sales numbers are down by over 10 percent over the last month after its largest-ever recall.

In Wal-Mart鈥檚 case, the Arkansas-based company paid a $17.5 million settlement last year brought by black truck drivers who claimed the company discriminated against them. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also sued Wal-Mart in 2009 over racial insults coming from fellow employees.

Since then, Wal-Mart鈥檚 approval numbers among consumers has been rising, especially as it makes a push into urban areas.

The 鈥淎ll black people leave now鈥� prank is at least the second hoax in the last few months directed at Wal-Mart.

Late last year, Wal-Mart faced a social media hoax after news outlets began reporting a faux press release announcing that Wal-Mart had begun selling caskets online, sparking 鈥渁 few clever folks [to start] writing fictitious (yet highly entertaining} on Walmart.com,鈥� writes Ad Age鈥檚 Craig Daitch. 鈥淭he hilarity of the reviews began to border on the absurd.鈥�

In that case, Wal-Mart took down the faux reviews. After Saturday鈥檚 arrest, the company announced it would work to limit shoppers鈥� access to in-store PA systems.