Editing Hoax (section)

==Definition==
[[File:Candle in the Dark by Thomas Ady.gif|thumb|[[Thomas Ady]]'s ''A candle in the dark ...'' (1656) contains one of the earliest mentions of ''[[Hocus Pocus (magic)|hocus pocus]]'', the origin of the word ''hoax''.<ref name=AHD>{{cite book | title = More Word Histories and Mysteries: From Aardvark to Zombie | author = ((Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries ))| page = [https://archive.org/details/morewordhistorie0000unse/page/110 110] | isbn = 0-618-71681-5 | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | year = 2006 | url = https://archive.org/details/morewordhistorie0000unse/page/110 }}</ref>]] 
Robert Nares defined the word ''hoax'' as meaning "to cheat", dating from [[Thomas Ady]]'s 1656 book ''A candle in the dark, or a treatise on the nature of witches and [[witchcraft]]''.<ref name="AHD"/>

The term ''hoax'' is occasionally used in reference to urban legends and rumours, but the [[folklorist]] [[Jan Harold Brunvand]] argues that most of them lack evidence of deliberate creations of falsehood and are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes, so the term should be used for only those with a probable conscious attempt to deceive.<ref name=Brunvand_194>{{cite book | title = Encyclopedia of Urban Legends | first = Jan H. | last = Brunvand | author-link = Jan Harold Brunvand | isbn = 1-57607-076-X | page = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofur00janh_0/page/194 194] | publisher = W. W. Norton & Company | year = 2001 | url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofur00janh_0/page/194 }}</ref> As for the closely related terms ''[[practical joke]]'' and ''prank'', Brunvand states that although there are instances where they overlap, ''hoax'' tends to indicate "relatively complex and large-scale fabrications" and includes deceptions that go beyond the merely playful and "cause material loss or harm to the victim."<ref>{{cite book | title = American Folklore: An Encyclopedia | first = Jan H. | last = Brunvand | author-link = Jan Harold Brunvand | isbn = 0-8153-3350-1 | page = 587 | publisher = Taylor & Francis | year = 1998 }}</ref>

According to Professor Lynda Walsh of the [[University of Nevada, Reno]], some hoaxes{{snd}}such as the [[Great Stock Exchange Fraud of 1814]], labelled as a hoax by contemporary commentators{{snd}}are financial in nature, and successful hoaxers{{snd}}such as [[P. T. Barnum]], whose [[Fiji mermaid]] contributed to his wealth{{snd}}often acquire monetary gain or fame through their fabrications, so the distinction between ''hoax'' and ''fraud'' is not necessarily clear.<ref name=Walsh_24>{{cite book | title = Sins Against Science: The Scientific Media Hoaxes of Poe, Twain, And Others | first = Lynda | last = Walsh | publisher = State University of New York Press | isbn = 0-7914-6877-1 | pages = 24–25 | year = 2006}}</ref> Alex Boese, the creator of the [[Museum of Hoaxes]], states that the only distinction between them is the reaction of the public, because a fraud can be classified as a hoax when its method of acquiring financial gain creates a broad public impact or captures the imagination of the masses.<ref>{{cite web | title = What Is A Hoax? | first = Alex | last = Boese | year = 2008 | url = http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/What_is_a_hoax/ | access-date = 25 October 2010 | archive-date = 22 October 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131022052904/http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/What_is_a_hoax | url-status = live }}</ref>

One of the earliest recorded media hoaxes is a fake [[almanac]] published by [[Jonathan Swift]] under the pseudonym of [[Isaac Bickerstaff]] in 1708.<ref name=Walsh_17>{{cite book | title = Sins Against Science: The Scientific Media Hoaxes of Poe, Twain, And Others | first = Lynda | last = Walsh | publisher = State University of New York Press | isbn = 0-7914-6877-1 | pages = 17–18 | year = 2006}}</ref> Swift predicted the death of [[John Partridge (astrologer)|John Partridge]], one of the leading astrologers in England at that time, in the almanac and later issued an [[elegy]] on the day Partridge was supposed to have died. Partridge's reputation was damaged as a result and his astrological almanac was not published for the next six years.<ref name=Walsh_17/>

It is possible to perpetrate a hoax by making only true statements using unfamiliar wording or context, such as in the [[Dihydrogen monoxide hoax]]. Political hoaxes are sometimes motivated by the desire to ridicule or besmirch opposing politicians or [[political institution]]s, often before elections.

A hoax differs from a [[magic (illusion)|magic]] trick or from fiction (books, film, theatre, radio, television, etc.) in that the audience is unaware of being deceived, whereas in watching a magician perform an illusion the audience expects to be tricked.

A hoax is often intended as a practical joke or to cause embarrassment, or to provoke social or political change by raising people's awareness of something. It can also emerge from a marketing or advertising purpose. For example, to market a [[romantic comedy]] film, a director staged a phony "incident" during a supposed wedding, which showed a bride and preacher getting knocked into a pool by a clumsy fall from a best man.<ref name=twsMarE28/> A resulting video clip of ''Chloe and Keith's Wedding'' was uploaded to YouTube and was viewed by over 30 million people and the couple was interviewed by numerous talk shows.<ref name=twsMarE28/> Viewers were deluded into thinking that it was an authentic clip of a real accident at a real wedding; but a story in ''[[USA Today]]'' in 2009 revealed it was a hoax.<ref name=twsMarE28>{{cite news
 |author= Oldenburg, Ann
 |title= Director: 'Chloe and Keith's Wedding' video is a hoax
 |newspaper= USA Today
 |quote= But today, we can tell you: it's definitely a hoax. Chloe and Keith are actors named Josh Covitt and Charissa Wheeler. They're not married.
 |date= 12 Oct 2009
 |url= http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2009/10/68500815/1
 |access-date= 2011-03-05
 |archive-date= 13 April 2010
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100413120438/http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2009/10/68500815/1
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref>
[[File:Great-Moon-Hoax-1835-New-York-Sun-lithograph-298px.jpg|thumb|[[Great Moon Hoax]]]]
Governments sometimes spread false information to facilitate their objectives, such as going to war. These often come under the heading of black propaganda. There is often a mixture of outright hoax and [[Censorship|suppression and management of information]] to give the desired impression. In wartime and times of international tension rumours abound, some of which may be deliberate hoaxes.

Examples of politics-related hoaxes:
* [[Belgium]] is a country with a [[Flemish dialects|Flemish]]-speaking region and a French-speaking region. In 2006, French-speaking television channel [[RTBF]] interrupted programming with [[Flemish Secession hoax|a spoof report]] claiming that the country had split in two and the [[Monarchy of Belgium|royal family]] had fled.
* On 13 March 2010, the [[Imedi]] television station in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] broadcast [[Imedi Media Holding#2010 Russian invasion hoax|a false announcement]] that Russia had invaded Georgia.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Watson|first1=Ivan|title=Fake Russian invasion broadcast sparks Georgian panic|url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/14/georgia.invasion.scare/|access-date=12 December 2016|publisher=CNN|date=2010-03-10|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220161010/http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/14/georgia.invasion.scare/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Psychologist Peter Hancock has identified six steps which characterise a truly successful hoax:<ref name=hancock15>{{cite book | title = Hoax Springs Eternal: The Psychology of Cognitive Deception | first = Peter | last = Hancock | publisher = Cambridge U.P. | isbn = 978-1107417687 | pages = 182–195 | year = 2015}}</ref>
* Identify a constituency{{snd}}a person or group of people who, for reasons such as piety or patriotism, or greed, will truly care about your creation.
* Identify a particular dream which will make your hoax appeal to your constituency.
* Create an appealing but "under-specified" hoax, with ambiguities
* Have your creation discovered.
* Find at least one champion who will actively support your hoax.
* Make people care, either positively or negatively{{snd}}the ambiguities encourage interest and debate