Fake Wikipedia biography unraveled

[Neil D]

NASHVILLE, TN, United States (UPI) -- A Nashville, Tenn., man has admitted to planting fake and embarrassing information on the Internet Wikipedia encyclopedia about a newspaper publisher.

Brian Chase said he created the bogus online biography of John Seigenthaler in May to play a trick on a co-worker.

In it, the publisher of The Tennessean newspaper and founder of the First Amendment Center, was said to have lived in the Soviet Union, started a successful public relations firm and was linked to the Kennedy assassinations.

Seigenthaler wrote last week in the New York Times he was disgusted that Wikipedia could be seen as a genuine reference source when such things could be posted by anyone anonymously.

Chase, 38, hand-delivered an apology to Seigenthaler Friday, and they spoke on the phone.

'He was very apologetic; he said it was a practical joke,' Seigenthaler told the Dickson (Tenn.) Herald. 'Of course I accept the apology, but it doesn`t lessen my frustration that anybody can put anything on Wikipedia.'