Times‘ ‘Metro Diary’ Pranked By WFMU Hosts, Pulls Story From Site

Last month, Ken Friedman and Andy Breckman, a pair of WFMU hosts, speculated about what components were necessary to get a piece into the the “unfunniest humor column on earth” — the Times‘ “Metropolitan Diary.” They determined “pithy tales of the filthy rich which were A) overheard, B) overwritten and C) dealing with the stock market” were sure winners.

Listener Amy called in to say that little kids with stock portfolios would be a sure winner, then Andy concocted the perfect overheard comment by an adorable five year old who was concerned that his stock broker daddy wanted to “sell his shorts,” (streaming realaudio) and then Irwin put the icing on the cake by suggesting that the entry be overwritten by using the word “consternation” to describe the tyke’s concerns.

A listener posted the story to the comments section of the show’s blog, and its Webmaster, Andrea Silenzi, submitted it to the Times and, as the hosts surmised, published it yesterday.

The result? “It took about six hours for The Times to remove the entry from the online edition of February 12th’s Metropolitan Diary. If only they had corrected Judith Miller‘s errors as quickly.”

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.