The Ham Sandwich Controversy

What Really Happened

Associated Content has been thrown in the national spotlight recently because of an article posted by one of their content producers. Nicholas Plagman, a member of the site since September of 2006, submitted a news article about a supposed "hate crime" involving Muslim students and a ham sandwich. The story was a funny take on an absurd hate incident at Lewiston Middle School, where Somali students were actually taunted by a group of students with a ham steak. The piece was published on April 23, and what has occurred since can best be described as a free fall.

Immediately after the article was posted, "Student Leaves Ham Sandwich on Lunch Table Near Muslims, Suspended for Hate Crime" created quite a stir in the Associated Content Community. Within its first 24 hours on the site, Plagman's piece had garnered 60+ comments from opinionated readers that could not believe the outlandish happenings of the story, let alone the equally outrageous quotes. Plagman had submitted the story as a "news" article, which Associated Content gives priority to over normal works. "News" was only half of what the sandwich article was- it was also satire and parody, as Plagman took quotes and events in the already ridiculous true story and embellished them to make it even funnier. Unbeknown to the relatively small AC community, a much larger audience was about to get wind of Plagman's work.