Noam Chomsky has always encouraged people to critically question the media, and has written acclaimed books on media control and propaganda.
Then, yesterday, several media outlets reported the famed linguist and activist’s death when he was, in fact, still alive. The irony hasn’t been lost to people online, who are having a field day over the swirl of misinformation.
“RIP Noam Chomsky, you wrote books about questioning the media and 1 unsourced tweet says you are dead x,” user Juan Mac wrote on X.
“Noam Chomsky has gotta be like wow these assholes really learned nothing I said about not trusting unverified media sources,” wrote X user Hannah Riley.
Noam Chomsky’s wife says that he is still alive. But X user @billackman1488 isn’t so sure.
—@DougJBalloon
“Noam Chomsky’s wife says that he is still alive. But X user @billackman1488 isn’t so sure,” wrote the satire account New York Times Pitchbot.
Chomsky, 95, had been hospitalized in Brazil while recovering from a stroke suffered a year ago, his wife, Valeria Chomsky, told The Associated Press last week. Then, the Beneficencia Portuguesa hospital in Sao Paulo said in a statement that Chomsky was discharged on Tuesday to continue his treatment at home.
RIP Noam Chomsky, you wrote books about questioning the media and 1 unsourced tweet says you are dead x
—@no1guncle
From there, Chomsky started trending on X as false reports of his death circulated.
Jacobin and The New Statesman published obituaries for Chomsky, though the former changed its headline from “We Remember Noam Chomsky” to “Let’s Celebrate Noam Chomsky.” By Wednesday, the link to the Jacobin story no longer existed, and the outlet’s tweet had been amended with reader context.
More than any other thinker in the postwar era, Noam Chomsky has embodied Karl Marx’s favorite dictum: “nothing human is alien to me.”<a href=”https://t.co/LOGpzZyRkR”>https://t.co/LOGpzZyRkR</a>
—@jacobin
The New Statesman took its essay by former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis down altogether. Brazilian news site Diario do Centro do Mundo also took down its story announcing Chomsky’s death and issued a correction.
On Tuesday, Chomsky’s wife said reports her husband had died are untrue.
“No, it is false,” she wrote Tuesday in response to an emailed query from The Associated Press.
Noam Chomsky has gotta be like wow these assholes really learned nothing I said about not trusting unverified media sources
—@hannahcrileyy
Noam Chomsky died like he lived: being alive.
—@drmistercody
The Chomskys have had a residence in Brazil since 2015. Noam Chomsky, known to millions for his criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, taught for decades at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2017, he joined the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
And, at least right now, he is still alive.
“Noam Chomsky died like he lived: being alive,” wrote user Cody Johnston on X.
If you like your critics raw as sushi. Noam Chomsky is your man.
