Fact-checking is easier than ever, but beware! Yesterday German tabloids printed with great pleasure the full name of the new German economy minister on the front page — irresistible, since his name comes in 16 parts (if you count in “von und zu”). Wait, turns out that should have been 15. An anonymous prankster now claims to have inserted the extra Wilhelm into the Wikipedia article about Karl Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jakob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg at just the right time. Here’s the crucial edit. So German journalists went to Wikipedia to research the new minister’s name, and you can figure out the rest. At least one wikipedian got suspicious and weeded out Wilhelm again fairly quickly, but, according to the prankster, then came the next twist: Since Spiegel Online and other sources had published stories with the false Wilhelm in it, the name could now be verified with reference to… Spiegel Online and other sources! And so Wilhelm made a comeback several hours later.

The prank illustrates the pitfalls of modern fact-checking and Wikipedia dependency flawlessly. File under media literacy courses and journalism school/research.

UPDATE: Zeit Online has an interview with Mr. Anonymous.