When we saw The Onion article “Fracking Industry Now Largest Employer Of Recent PR Graduates,” we retweeted it as a joke. When Houston Business Journal reporter Deon Daugherty saw the story, she decided to investigate.

The article cites “a study” that says companies that make a business out of fracking are hiring more PRs than other industries with a bad rep — tobacco, for instance — because they’ve got a lot of spinning to do. Upfront, Daugherty says she knows this story is a parody. Still, she contacted Ed Davis, GM of PR firm Fifth Ring and “a media savvy professional,” for comment. And he responded!

Fifth Ring lists a number of clients in the energy space, including oil companies, one of the industries that’s a frequent fracker (?).

“Generally, everybody’s heart is in the right place. They’re trying to run their business and be productive,” said Davis, who doesn’t miss the opportunity to do some of that spinning The Onion was talking about, even if he’s commenting about a fake story.

Hard-hitting journalism!