Here is a link to an official statement made by Charles Stiles, AOL
Postmaster, on January 30.

http://www.the-dma.org/cgi/dispnewsstand?article=4405

Having worked with the press for many years, with a first mostly positive
but nonetheless frustrating exposure on national press when I was 15, I know
that there are times when you say the weather has been wonderful, and read
the next day that "'The weather is terrible out here, it has been pouring
for days,' said Thomas." This does not happen very often, but it does, and
it is infuriating. It is a possibility that needs to be considered here. But
I must say that I have never had that problem with large text inserts such
as the one above. Typically, the journalist lost his notes, was not paying
attention, or decided to spice up his story. When I was 15, one journalist
even told me something along the lines of "So I lied, so what? I still put
you on the back cover of one of the largest newspapers in the country, if
that's not good enough for you, you can always sue me, now why don't you go
back to your Mom and leave me alone!" So, I know how bad it can get when it
gets bad. But I have never seen a journalist type up a 600+ word statement
and claim that I sent that in an e-mail message. A much more likely
explanation is that a PR department sent this message out and attributed it
to him simply because of his position at AOL, without checking with him
first, perhaps because he was unavailable. I am not saying that this is what
happened, I am just saying that it is far more likely than a journalist
fabricating a 600-word statement.

I also note that the "hoax" article is still linked from Goodmail's web site
and that Goodmail's CEO shows no signs of dissent:

http://blog.dmnews.com/2006/02/01/goodmail-ceo-counters-whitelists-on-the-wa
y-out/

Although I suppose that the above, too, could be a hoax.

I am looking forward to a clear and unambiguous statement from AOL through
official channels.

  Eric