MSNBC retracts false Palin story; others duped

AP via SFGate ^ | 11/12/8 | DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer

[SmithL]

NEW YORK, (AP) -- MSNBC was the victim of a hoax when it reported that an adviser to John McCain had identified himself as the source of an embarrassing story about former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the network said Wednesday.

David Shuster, an anchor for the cable news network, said on air Monday that Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, had come forth and identified himself as the source of a Fox News Channel story saying Palin had mistakenly believed Africa was a country instead of a continent.

Eisenstadt identifies himself on a blog as a senior fellow at the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy. Yet neither he nor the institute exist; each is part of a hoax dreamed up by a filmmaker named Eitan Gorlin and his partner, Dan Mirvish, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

The Eisenstadt claim had mistakenly been delivered to Shuster by a producer and was used in a political discussion Monday afternoon, MSNBC said.

"The story was not properly vetted and should not have made air," said Jeremy Gaines, network spokesman. "We recognized the error almost immediately and ran a correction on air within minutes."

Gaines told the Times that someone in the network's newsroom had presumed the information solid because it was passed along in an e-mail from a colleague.

[mrsmith]

I’m disillusioned.

I always believed the media made up their own nonexistant sources.

[Lancey Howard]

(yawn) MSNBC
I hope all 15 of their viewers noticed the retraction.

[Moconservative]

I agree! I think O’Reilly was surprised when he heard it. I bet there is some phone calls being placed to make sure that this thing is put to bed properly. Fox News will make a statement and I hope Cameron comes out and apologizes.

[ken21]

there are democrat tv viewers that still

think that the democrat party is for the working person!

[numberonepal]

What it is, I couldn’t fathom, but I won’t invite him to be around the kids.

And he wiggles too. Drives me crazy.

[Chairman of the Bard]

Eisenstadt/LaRouche 2012!!

[FreeReign]

I listened to Greta earlier talk to O’Reilly and she said that Carl Cameron had called her and said he was sorry he had reported the story. I don’t know if that will make it to Governor Palin but at least there is an admission herer that he didn’t do his homework.

Is this true? Cameron would need to come on the air and apologize.

[raptor29]

Well, maybe more like ‘just two of the 98% of fruits who voted for Obama’.

[April Lexington]

Better said. Thanks!

[Nonperson]

I listened to Greta earlier talk to O’Reilly and she said that Carl Cameron had called her and said he was sorry he had reported the story.

What night was that?

[devolve]

.

MSNBC is in the pits on ratings and Oberwoman gets $7 million dollar contract

Say goodnight NBC and GE!

[CottShop]

Well gooooly- whoda thunk it? ‘Professional reporters’ ‘duped’ by ‘annonymous sources’? Tell me it aint so Dan Rather!

The McCain Senior campaign manager was on Fox news tonight and he flat out stated that not one single reporter called the McCain Campaign to check out if those annonymous accusations were factual or had any merrit at all- He also said that for 2 years now, a annonymous ‘leak’ has escaped from the McCain ‘camp’ and NOONE EVER called to confirm any of it!

Face it- the MSM is going downhill on an Canola oil greased slab of teflon (and hte proof of it is the fact that they bemoan the fact that bloggers are ‘ruining the news’ almost nightly now- but the fact is theat bloggers are EXPOSING their lies and actually holding htem accoutnable for the lies they tell because words have meaning- somethign the MSM has forgotten!!!

[Moconservative]

www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2131228/posts
Greta Argues with O’Reilly over Carl Cameron ‘gossip’ on Sarah Palin.

This was an earlier post where you can go to the story and the interview is on the LA Times blog.

[donaldo]

A good one. I know that movie reference.

[fatima]

(((((Hugs))))There were a little over 50 percent in my count for cable viewers.Of that MSNBC were at the bottom.For the average viewer with broadcast TV and maybe cable their effect is 0.Most people watch the local news and sports.

[IreneE]

Thanks Di, you said it better than I could.

However:

ROMNEY AIDES WORKING FOR MCCAIN DISHED SARAH PALIN THE DAY AFTER THE ELECTION TO KNOCK HER OUT OF THE RUNNING FOR 2012.

[Major Matt Mason]

They reported it because they wanted to believe it was true, or thought that it was plausible given their elitist worldview. I still think Palin needs to crack open a few books, but she certainly is getting stronger by the day. If she can survive this and keep her nose clean the next couple of years, she'll be a formidable candidate in 2012. She has taken far more of a beating than President Soetero has, so she'll be battle-tested.

[IreneE]

Yeah, but no one bothers to check out the McCain staffer who actually did prep Palin.

He said McCain aides were in and out of the room and could have picked up snippets of the conversation about Africa and NAFTA and take them out of context.

This story had legs because there was some twisted truth in it: Palin was prepped in that room by that man.

So the hoax story guy got his news SOMEWHERE, however distorted it was.

Romney is the source of the twisted rumors. No if ands or buts. He knows how to play the MSM.

[taxesareforever]

Never once heard any news organization say it was false until after the election.

[Force of Truth]

Is not the first time, will not be the last.