The results of one poll proved too good for an Iranian news service to pass up, even though they were not true.
Iran's semi-official
Fars news service Friday published a story on its website titled "Gallup Poll: Rural Whites Prefer Ahmadinejad to Obama."
The story claims a poll by the Gallup Organization finds "the overwhelming majority of rural white Americans" would rather vote for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad instead of U.S. President Barack Obama.
But the Gallup organization tells VOA no such poll was ever conducted. Instead, the source of the story appears to be
The Onion, which is a satirical newspaper that publishes phony news stories.
Fars has since pulled the story from its website.
The satirical
Onion website was quick to respond to the gaffe by
Fars.
In a statement sent to VOA, Onion editor Will Tracy said he "commends the journalists at Iran's Finest News Source on their superb reportage."