Ukraine: Photoshopped Chuck Norris and the Ukrainian Language Day

On Nov. 9, Ukrainian netizens marked the Ukrainian Language Day – UA Day 2011 ^[1] [uk] – by posting and tweeting exclusively in Ukrainian. Cherkasy-based Fedir Gontsa ^[2] [uk] decided to draw attention to the initiative by creating a photoshopped image of the American actor Chuck Norris ^[3] posing with a Ukrainian language textbook, and posting it on Facebook and Twitter. This well-meaning prank was mistaken for the real thing by some Ukrainian media: the Lviv daily Vysokyi Zamok ^[4] and Like.lb.ua ^[5] both ran the fake photo and reported that Chuck Norris had actually met with members of the Ukrainian Diaspora in Ontario, Canada. Roman Golubovsky posts a chronology of this incident ^[6] [uk], interviews Gontsa, and writes that “the story deserves a mention in journalism textbooks.”