More Radio Hoaxes • A Chronology of Classic Radio Hoaxes

The latest entry into the “Radio Hoax Hall of Fame” goes to Miami morning team Enrique Santos and Joe Ferrero. The DJs, from spanish-formatted WXDJ-FM, placed a phone call to the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, and using sound bites of Fidel Castro, convinced him he was talking to the Cuban dictator. The Associated Press quoted Santos as saying, “He fell for it."

The mechanics behind this ingenious deception are quite simple, given a phone line and a typical consumer computer. The Santos and Ferrero team probably acquired real sound bites of Castro (probably from a speech) and edited them down into small units of conversation that could be easily accessed and quickly played over the phone.

This “soundboard” idea is nothing new. Radio personalities have done it for years but it only really matured with the advent of computing power. A few years ago, I created a piece of software called “KickWave” which allowed a user to load about 30 .wav files onto the computer screen at-once. The sound bites could then be played back through the computer and onto the air.

But, since then, the creative juices of Internet users around the world have led to the development of online soundboards dedicated to a wide selection of different celebrities. The availability of these soundboards has made prank calls easier to pull off by both Radio and non-Radio people.

The recent hoax perpetrated by Santos and Ferrero prompted me to create a chronology of Radio Hoaxes. You can view it here.

Got an opinion? Drop me an email: radio.guide@about.com

Corey Deitz - Corey Deitz

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