MEXICO: The Volcano Vanishes

The Vera Cruz El Dictamen had a newsbeat: a new volcano was hissing and smoking up out of a farmer’s field, just as famed Paricutin did four years ago. Villagers from the interior, said El Dictamen, were fleeing the smoke and hot ashes. The A.P. picked up the story; most U.S. newspapers ran it. Last week Mexican and U.S. scientists (but few newspaper readers) heard the truth. El Dictamen had been hoaxed.