Fake News: BuzzFeed Runs ‘Unverifiable’ Trump-Russia Claims Left-leaning news outlet abandons all journalistic ethics in publishing explosive dossier
The online news site BuzzFeed on Tuesday published a letter containing salacious allegations — which even the left-leaning outlet acknowledged are unverified — against President-Elect Donald Trump.
The letter, purporting to come from a retired British intelligence agent, details Trump’s alleged relationship with Russia and contends that the Kremlin has been “cultivating, supporting and assisting” Trump for at least five years.
“Even Donald Trump deserves journalistic fairness.”
It alleges that Russians have been feeding Trump intelligence on his opponents, including Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, for years. It also details Trump’s alleged “personal obsessions and sexual perversion.”
BuzzFeed acknowledges that it has not verified the accusations and even notes that the document contains a number of basic factual errors. Yet it published the full document.“Now BuzzFeed News is publishing the full document so that Americans can make up their own minds about allegations about the president-elect that have circulated at the highest levels of the US government,” BuzzFeed wrote.
It is a shocking breakdown of journalistic ethics.
Even Mother Jones declined to publish the full details and dossier.
"Even Donald Trump deserves journalistic fairness," tweeted David Corn, Mother Jones' Washington Bureau chief.
Ben Smith, BuzzFeed's editor-in-chief, defended the decision in a memo to staff.
"Our presumption is to be transparent in our journalism and to share what we have with our readers," he wrote in the email he subsequently shared on Twitter. "We have always erred on the side of publishing. In this case, the document was in wide circulation in the highest levels of American government and media."
Astonishingly, though, Smith cast doubt on whether the story his site published was true.
"As we noted in our story, there is a serious reason to doubt the allegations," he wrote. "We have been chasing specific claims in this document for weeks, and will continue to."
Smith drew sharp rebukes from other reporters.
"Not how journalism works: Here's a thing that might or might not be true, without supporting evidence; decide for yourself if it's legit," tweeted Brad Heath, an investigative reporter for USA Today.
Julia Ioffe, a journalist who left Politico after suggesting in a tweet that Trump might be having sex with his own daughter, tweeted Tuesday that she had been approached with the story that BuzzFeed ran with but declined to publish. "Because it was impossible to verify. (I tried.)"
New York Times reporter Adam Goldman heaped criticism on both BuzzFeed and CNN, which aired a version of the story Tuesday but did not publish all of the unverified details.
"Sequence of events: @CNN finds way to talk about report and @buzzfeed uses that as reason to publish. Media critics are gonna be busy," he tweeted.
Last night BF crowed "CNN has retracted this story".
Unlike BF, I looked for evidence of such a retraction, and there was none. In fact, CNN is still promoting this as a legitimate news story this morning.
BF does not know the meaning of "fake news".
The news story here is that the intelligence officials presented material to President Obama and Donald Trump which contained allegations that Russia has compromised Donald Trump.
This is true, it is not "fake news". The allegations were transmitted to Obama and Trump.
What if any of the allegations are true has yet to be determined.
There is no "fake news" on this story Newstalkers, the allegation is the news, and it is not fake.
It's fake news. Even other leftist media agrees.
"Even Donald Trump deserves journalistic fairness," tweeted David Corn, Mother Jones' Washington Bureau chief.
When even progressive hit man David Corn is disgusted with a left wing smear....
Real reporting:
The document also makes specific claims about contacts between people working for Trump and Russian officials. It alleges that Michael Cohen, special counsel to Trump, was central to “the ongoing secret liaison relationship between the New York tycoon’s campaign and the Russian leadership,” and that he met secretly with Kremlin officials in Prague in August 2016.
Reached by telephone on Tuesday night, Cohen denied the dossier’s allegations.
The story is “totally fake, totally inaccurate,” Cohen said.
“I’m telling you emphatically that I’ve not been to Prague, I’ve never been to Czech [Republic], I’ve not been to Russia,” Cohen said. “The story is completely inaccurate, it is fake news meant to malign Mr. Trump.”
Cohen said that during the time the report places him in Prague, he was actually with his son visiting USC and meeting with the baseball coach. A USC baseball source confirmed Tuesday night that Cohen and his son had visited USC on August 29 th .
From the linked article
Cohen also tweeted a photo of his passport: “I have never been to Prague in my life. #fakenews .” Trump retweeted Cohen’s tweet.
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Is this supposed to prove something? lol
I have never been to Prague in my life. #fakenews
Since it's behind a paywall:
Wait, there’s more, from the Wall Street Journal: “The FBI has found no evidence that he traveled to the Czech Republic, where the meeting allegedly took place in August of last year, officials said.”
Read more at:
I don't know it he traveled there or not, that is why we have reporters, journalism and investigations, to find these things out.
Much of Trump's public life as a political figure and a celebrity has been based and advanced by his lies about people and events. I have no sympathy for Donald Trump. Whatever is happening to him , it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
But it's so much easier to just report it instead of actually investigating it for the sake of veracity, so let's just publish it?
Really?
I don't know it he traveled there or not, that is why we have reporters, journalism and investigations, to find these things out.
JESUS FUCK!!!! You are seriously trying to outdo your stupid comment of the day award aren't you? Do you read what you type John? Reporters and journalism is your source for vetting a statement? Did you not read this:
“The FBI has found no evidence that he traveled to the Czech Republic, where the meeting allegedly took place in August of last year, officials said.”
A report from the FBI isn't good enough for you John? You have to wait for a reporter to investigate it? Well, how about this from the Atlantic:
Cohen said that during the time the report places him in Prague, he was actually with his son visiting USC and meeting with the baseball coach. A USC baseball source confirmed Tuesday night that Cohen and his son had visited USC on August 29th.
Go ahead John. Admit it. You're a Birther. Birther John. Change your name now.
We know it is not true until Harry Reid tells us from the Senate floor or did he? Well, if he didn't, guess it's too late now.
"I hate fake news!" says Donald Trump who claimed Ted Cruz's dad assassinated JFK. #GoldenShowerGate
An 'extremely credible source' has called my office and told me that @BarackObama 's birth certificate is a fraud.
Trump's press conference has begun. Believe it or not he has placed flunkies in the audience to applaud him, something you never see at press conferences.
It will be interesting to see how he fucks this press conference up. It's not a question of if, but how.
Kind of like at Hillary's rallies? You're a funny man.
A Hillary rally is not a press conference.
You dont even meet minimal standards of knowledge to participate in a forum.
You've lowered the bar for everyone.
NBC just called it disinformation.
The leaked summary was prepared by the Intel chiefs as an EXAMPLE of information that is NOT CREDIBLE. It was prepared to show Trump an example of the type of garbage information that private intelligence sources create.
"According to the senior official, the two-page summary about the unsubstantiated material made available to the briefers was to provide context, should they need it, to draw the distinction for Trump between analyzed intelligence and unvetted "disinformation."
Whoops!
NBC just called it disinformation.
The leaked summary was prepared by the Intel chiefs as an EXAMPLE of information that is NOT CREDIBLE. It was prepared to show Trump an example of the type of garbage information that private intelligence sources create.
Whoops!
Excuse me for asking … may we see verification of this?
The link you provided earlier does not verify your claim …
From the linked article …
According to the senior official, the two-page summary about the unsubstantiated material made available to the briefers was to provide context, should they need it, to draw the distinction for Trump between analyzed intelligence and unvetted "disinformation."
The briefers also had available to them unvetted "disinformation" about the Clinton Foundation, although that was not orally shared with Trump.
Note the word disinformation is in QUOTATION MARKS, indicating that it merely repeats an assertion which, itself, is unvetted.
These misrepresentations are why I limit my time here …
Buzzfeed and CNN just had their Dan Rather moment.
FBI Director Comey issued a Clinton-damning letter AS EARLY VOTING WAS BEGINNING, SPECULATING ON WHAT MIGHT BE ON ANTHONY WEINER'S COMPUTER THAT MIGHT BE DAMAGING TO CLINTON (if any actually existed therein) … this he did BEFORE EVEN OBTAINING A SUBPOENA TO EXAMINE THE COMPUTER!
So, based on NOTHING … WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE NOTHING … voters cast early ballots BASED ON UN-VETTED, PURELY SPECULATIVE DISINFORMATION.
And not one of you Clinton-bashers objected … in fact, you ran with the speculation!
But now, when it's Trump's ass that may or may not be legitimately kicked … WE HAVE THE USUAL RIGHTEOUS-SELECTIVE INDIGNATION!
Whether or not the Clinton campaign disavowed the hacked e-mails is a viable issue … no argument … and whether or not the RNC was hacked, while it claims to have been secured against hacking … WE DON'T REALLY KNOW!
I have no problem with those who want to know the truth … the realities. But I have a major problem with the double standard-bullshit I encounter, the dismissive, declarative-but-not-verifiable "rebuttals", the sarcasm and the mockery that follows when I post valid questions and reasonable doubts.
In a linked story posted earlier, Trump compared American Intelligence efforts to that of the NAZIs; ordinarily, my usual detractors would cite Godwin's Law (and usually do so without understanding it fully); but when Mr. Trump yells "NAZI" … it goes unchallenged.
Check the campaign videos; Mr. Trump, in a large part, did exactly what the Hitler Ministry of Propaganda did during the Holocaust, namely, convince a hoard of pre-disposed haters to gladly blame all national ills on MINORITIES!
I will discuss almost anything with almost anybody; but when a "discussion" becomes a pissing contest and expressed reasonable doubts are met with vitriol and misinformation … instead of a civil, "we disagree", or actual, factual counter points, I have made it my practice to distance myself for a time.
Time has come once again.
The above comment is specific … while it mostly imposes questions and doubts I have, it also accurately gives examples of what goes wrong in many of our discussions.
When asked on camera, with Ivanka by his side, what Donald and Ivanka have in common, Donald mentioned "sex". Is it really a stretch that the Pussygrabber in Chief has a deranged sexual appetite?