A 17-year-old who used his expertise with computers to plant a false story in the mass circulation daily Yediot Achronot, was given two years’ probation by a Haifa youth court Tuesday and ordered by Judge Aharon Melamed to donate his computer hardware and software to the National Center for the Deaf. He was also ordered to teach the deaf how to operate computers in lieu of a prison sentence.
The youth, who was not identified because of his age, managed last June to access the computer line of Yediot Achronot’s New York correspondent, Yaacov Eilon. He planted a story, ostensibly from Eilon, that a former teacher of his and another Haifa resident headed a large drug smuggling network in the U.S.
The story made the front page of the newspaper. When it was shown to be false, the police were called in and traced the youth who had also accessed the lines of other computer users.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
