Fox News passed up chance to run Hunter Biden email story amid credibility concerns, reports say | The Independent
Even Fox News is running from the Russian disinformation campaign.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Reporters at the New York Post were also allegedly wary of the story's veracity
Graeme Massie Los Angeles Monday 19 October 2020 23:11
Fox News reportedly declined the chance to run Rudy Giuliani's Hunter Biden emails story amid reported concerns on its credibility.
The Rupert Murdoch-owned news channel was offered the story by Donald Trump's personal lawyer but refused it until it could be properly vetted, according to political news site mediaite.com.
Mr Giuliani then took the story to the tabloid New York Post, also owned by Mr Murdoch, who ran the controversial stories with material they claim was taken from Mr Biden's laptop.
Fox News was reportedly unhappy at the lack of verification that the laptop actually belonged to Mr Biden and had concerns about Mr Giuliani's reliability as a source, insiders told mediaite.com.
Reporters at the New York Post, including Bruce Golding, refused to let their names be put on the story because of their own concerns, according to the New York Times.
In the end the story appeared in the paper with two bylines, Emma-Jo Morris and Gabrielle Fonrouge.
Ms Morris is a former associate producer on Sean Hannity's Fox News show and had never had a New York Post byline before, according to the Times.
Her Instagram account, which is now private, had pictures of her posing with Steve Bannon, who is quoted in the story, and Roger Stone, a friend of the president.
New York Post insiders told the Times that Ms Fonrouge had little to do with the story and only found out she was bylined on it after it was published.
Joe Biden's campaign has denied any impropriety and says that Mr Giuliani is involved in a Russian disinformation campaign.
The White House was previously warned about Mr Giuliani's alleged dealing with alleged Russian spies and the FBI has now reportedly launched a probe into the former mayor of New York, NBC News reports.
Some of the biggest names on Fox News have also gone to lengths to distance themselves from the story.
"I can understand the concern about this story," said host Chris Wallace.
"It is completely unverified and frankly, Rudy Giuliani is not the most reliable source anymore. I hate to say that, but it's just true."
Fox News declined to comment on this story.
In desperation Trump's campaign is now openly and obviously colluding with Putin's Russian Intelligence Services in these recent efforts to harm Biden and to help Trump. The saddest and most worrisome aspect of this all this is how many Americans are willing to serve as Putin's willing dupes in Trump's desperate disinformation campaign. Which, by the way, is not even working, this time around. Thank Goodness!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cW6mc2fAtfA
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-russian-disinfo-430276?fbclid=IwAR3aKhKZVSQCfxs6btKrAgAu1HfoL17AQcWbVbCGMzJV6GqhtnzZ9C7Ky3w
You Literally Can't Believe The Facts Tucker Carlson Tells You. So Say Fox's Lawyers
Now comes the claim that you can't expect to literally believe the words that come out of Carlson's mouth . And that assertion is not coming from Carlson's critics. It's being made by a federal judge in the Southern District of New York and by Fox News's own lawyers in defending Carlson against accusations of slander. It worked, by the way.
Just read U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil's opinion , leaning heavily on the arguments of Fox's lawyers: The "'general tenor' of the show should then inform a viewer that [Carlson] is not 'stating actual facts' about the topics he discusses and is instead engaging in 'exaggeration' and 'non-literal commentary.' "
She wrote: "Fox persuasively argues, that given Mr. Carlson's reputation, any reasonable viewer 'arrive[s] with an appropriate amount of skepticism' about the statement he makes."
Vyskocil, an appointee of President Trump's, added, "Whether the Court frames Mr. Carlson's statements as 'exaggeration,' 'non-literal commentary,' or simply bloviating for his audience, the conclusion remains the same — the statements are not actionable."
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Fox News won a court case by 'persuasively' arguing that no 'reasonable viewer' takes Tucker Carlson seriously
But Fox News argued that Carlson "cannot be understood to have been stating facts, but instead that he was delivering an opinion using hyperbole for effect," the ruling said.
It added that Fox News "submits that the use of that word or an accusation of extortion, absent more, is simply 'loose, figurative, or hyperbolic language' that does not give rise to a defamation claim."
US District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil agreed with Fox's premise , adding that the network "persuasively argues" that "given Mr. Carlson's reputation, any reasonable viewer 'arrive[s] with an appropriate amount of skepticism' about the statements he makes."
"This 'general tenor' of the show should then inform a viewer that he is not 'stating actual facts' about the topics he discusses and is instead engaging in 'exaggeration' and 'non-literal commentary,'" the ruling said.
Even Fox News does not consider Tucker news!
They said in court documents he doesn't tell the truth. That he is a blowhard...
Some how people will find a way to ignore that.
I'm suspicious of the laptop and emails as well. However, the link you provide hardly consists as evidence that they are fake. These are all former officials, not current, and so they are only opinion, not first hand knowledge. For myself, I'll just wait and see what comes of this, rather than come to some conclusion beforehand.
I bet Tokyo Rose, Axis Annie and Baghdad Bob could not have said it any better than that. I think we all kind of know this crap is Russia interfering in our elections, again. So, let us not be their willing dupes. That is, unless one is actually on our enemy's side against America. In that case, I guess do as much damage as possible but know that people are watching, keeping tabs and will be holding any traitors accountable. Nobody can say they were not warned that was a distinct possibility. Aiding and abetting America's enemies is pretty darned deplorable though...
Let's cut the crap. Lots of Americans... and lots of NTers... are fascists. Firmly opposed to democracy.
They say anything they think will advance their agenda: truth, lies... no matter.
Those of us who want a democratic future must not only be clear.
We must shout.
LOL. Being against democracy, actual democracy where popular majority rules, doesn't make one a fascist. Being for a republic form of government doesn't make one a fascist. Just another attempt to use emotional labels to herd the masses in the direction you want them to go in.
Um, no. I don't know any such thing. What I do know is, right out of the gate, the left is dismissing it as Russian propaganda without actually knowing it is. It may be Russian propaganda. It also may not be.
And this is why I vote against the Left. If one doesn't get in line with your political goals, you are an enemy of the people. Doesn't that sound familiar!
The Americans in "America's enemies" are only the people who adhere to your ideology, though. The rest of us don't count, according to such thinking. Nice.
As usual, he didn't say much really . .
Yes-- but that not what Bob is talking about-- you totally missed the point!
Rather, he was talking about people who are so obsessed with advancing their agenda that things like truth-- and democracy, don't matter to them
You may want to read his comment again...
(Actually, he didn't even mention a republican form of government ..I'm surprised you didn't realize that).
I don't believe I have, but you're welcome to your opinion.
I agree. But your proposition is backwards.
Being a fascist makes one hostile to democracy, regardless of its form (direct, indirect, republic, monarchy, whatever).
A fascist has two essential characteristics:
- xenophobia (scapegoating "the other")
- authoritarianism (unthinking obedience to the Chief)
Trump and his followers are opposed to democracy. That's a large part of why they must be classified as "fascist".
They are unthinkingly obedient to their Leader. They scapegoat Black and Brown people.
They are fascists.
This is true. Where I oppose you is who you consider to be practicing fascism.
Which, to my mind, is practiced miles more by the left than the right. It's easy to find examples of the left preventing a speaker from the right from speaking on college campuses, for instance, while I can't think of a single instance where someone from the left was prevented from speaking on campus. It seems pretty inarguable that such practices, preventing ideas you don't like from being heard is in line with fascism.
Agreed. However, again, we differ as to what is current reality. Anyone who backs Trump for any reason falls into this category, for you. It doesn't matter to you, for instance, that I personally find Trump, as an individual, repugnant morally but vote for him anyway. You see it only as support for him as a person. That it is some version of cult of personality or adherence to his morals. The truth is, I didn't vote for Trump out of any sense of obedience, thinking or otherwise, to him as an individual. I voted for him as a rejection of the left's ideology.
I'm sure there are "fascist" minded people who admire Trump, just as I'm sure there are fascist minded people who follow Biden. However, most people who vote for Trump aren't anything like fascist. The biggest difference between someone who votes for Trump as opposed to Biden is that one thinks there is an objective truth and the other, subjective relativism. That's the actual difference between Republicanism and Democratic rule. Republicanism is about the rule of law and popular Democracy is about the rule of the majority.
Really? Can you provide an example???
Pointless to continue
Well at least there's one thing we can be grateful for--- at least we don't have any of Putin's gullible dupes here on NT.
Than goodness for that!!!
Woops...silly me!
I "inadvertently" forgot to insert the /sarcasm tag.
My bad...
Lol this "strory" is so fucking dumb that no one outside of the New York Post, a homeless dude, and the body of a vagrant, took it seriously. Even people within the post didnt take it seriously.
Yet, a lot of people around here are still all in on it...
Should we ignore illegal Russian interference?
Can you see pyramids from that river you're on?
Is the Earth flat?
Where did Noah land?
Just ignore that ridiculousness...
Only when the 'president' benefits. . .
Russia.......Russia......Russia......
or
China......China......China!
Take your pick!:
Russia.......Russia......Russia......
or
China......China......China!
Take your pick!:
I wouldn't be surprised if many on The Post realized that it was totally fake news-- but posted it anyway to boost circulation!
Is this trmp's October surprise?
It comes straight from Vlad Putin and Russian State Intelligence Services. So, yeah, it probably is the same as last time. Russia illegally interfers in our elections and the gop welcomes it and plays along.
Trump says this story is so true that he wants his opponent to be arrested, along with the former POTUS (you know, the black one that makes fun of him). He is one of the most amateur dictators in human history, and he has supporters. It’s a sad time in the history of this country. Even Donald Trump isn’t stupid enough to believe this story.