Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

AOL Libels Free Republic; Web Giant Falsely Accuses Conservative Site of Hosting Child Porn
Wednesday, September 22, 2010 | Kristinn

Posted on 09/22/2010 8:23:10 PM PDT by kristinn

The Internet giant AOL libeled Free Republic as "hosting child pornography" in an article published Wednesday, September 22, 2010, at their Daily Finance news site. The site's masthead reads: Daily Finance An AOL Money & Finance Site.

Authored by Daily Finance media columnist Jeff Bercovici, the article entitled Muzzled Reporter Says 'Maw of Yahoo' No Place for Journalism tells the story about John Cook's reasons for leaving Yahoo News and returning to his previous gig with Gawker. According to the article, Cook was the senior national affairs reporter for Yahoo's The Upshot news blog. Bercovici notes that he and Cook are friends and former colleagues.

In the article, Bercovici writes that among Cook's reasons for leaving Yahoo News was that he was not allowed to write about Free Republic:

"But Cook offers a different interpretation of his move, saying that Yahoo's corporate conservatism repeatedly got in the way of his attempts to report the news. In one instance, Cook was forced to bowdlerize a quotation from New York Times reporter James Risen; he was told that referring to masturbation, even euphemistically, was unacceptable. On similar grounds, he was prohibited from writing about the conservative website Free Republic hosting child pornography. Most glaringly, he was told that a proposed story on the Obama Administration raising the salary of White House staffers by 9% lacked the necessary balance; it was killed."

The original paragraph includes a link to a Salon.com article about a scammer creating a user account at Free Republic and posting a link to an alleged child porn site on his home page.(Salon reports it did not directly verify the link.)

The article explicitly exonerates Free Republic of "hosting child pornography" and instead cites the site as being "lax" in its registration process:

"Now FreeRepublic.com is not hosting or even "condoning" child pornography. It's just that it's so ridiculously easy to set up a profile and get your own FreeRepublic page that apparently anyone can and will do it. Theoretically, someone could do this at Kos or OpenSalon. (But, as far as we know, no one has.)"

"...Free Republic appears to delete profiles started for spamming purposes (unless user "freehoodia" was "banned or suspended" for some other reason, like supporting TARP), so, again, all we're accusing it of is being somewhat lax in its moderation of the user registration process."

AOL's Daily Finance presents itself as a professional journalistic enterprise with a full editorial staff overseeing their reporters.

Yet even with a link to the article that flatly refutes AOL's claim that Free Republic hosts child pornography, AOL printed the libel anyway.

Corrective action will be sought.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; Free Republic; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2010electionbias; achillwind; agitprop; aol; aollies; businessinsider; cyberbullying; dailyfinance; dailykos; democrats; dncbrownshirts; dnctalkingpoints; drivebymedia; evilporntroll; fakebutaccurate; fr; freerepublic; gawker; gaystapotactics; goebbelswouldbeproud; hitsquad; howardkurtz; internetmeme; jacuse; jamesrisen; jeffbercovici; johncook; journolist; journolistgate; kaos; lavendermafia; libel; libelous; liberalfascism; lyingliar; madhatter; mediabias; mediagate; nicholascarlson; plantedevidence; pornification; propaganda; salon; saulalinsky; slander; smearcampaign; stalinisttactics; thebiglie; trollpostsporn; trolls; vikingkitties; washingtonpost; witchhunt; yahoo; yahoonews; yellowjournalism; zogbyism
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 121-140141-160161-180181 next last
To: Vendome; colorcountry; Colofornian; Elsie; FastCoyote; svcw; Zakeet; SkyPilot; rightazrain; ...
They must have meant Kitty Porn:

ROFL! That darned spell check strikes again!

Ping to the inmans

141 posted on 09/23/2010 8:48:21 AM PDT by reaganaut (Ex Mormon, now Christian - "I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: kristinn
Corrective action will be sought.

Good. Give it back to them.

142 posted on 09/23/2010 9:04:45 AM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kristinn; Jim Robinson

This is really an indicator of the effectiveness of FR, that someone is willing to go to such questionable lengths to shut us down.

They hate us and can’t silence us with anything legitimate, so they make up about the worst they can think of throwing at us.


143 posted on 09/23/2010 9:07:09 AM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut

;-)


144 posted on 09/23/2010 9:16:05 AM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously... You'll never live through it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 141 | View Replies]

To: Mugwump
"Oddly, I saw a really repulsive porn shot in the last seven days. Repulsive..."

That must have been the one of Obama's Mamma. Repulsive indeed. :-)

145 posted on 09/23/2010 9:25:29 AM PDT by Spunky (You are free to make choices, but not free from the consequences)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut; Vendome; colorcountry; Colofornian; Elsie; FastCoyote; svcw; Zakeet; SkyPilot; ...
They must have meant Kitty Porn: ROFL! That darned spell check strikes again!


146 posted on 09/23/2010 9:34:48 AM PDT by Godzilla (3-7-77)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 141 | View Replies]

To: Jersey Republican Biker Chick
As fast as you could ban one another one posted a nasty pic.

Was that during the MD4Bush and other n00bie poster days?

147 posted on 09/23/2010 9:35:08 AM PDT by Arrowhead1952 (Remember in November. Clean the house on Nov. 2. / Progressive is a PC word for liberal democrat.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Godzilla

;-)


148 posted on 09/23/2010 9:58:12 AM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously... You'll never live through it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 146 | View Replies]

To: Jersey Republican Biker Chick

I remember that but few others seem to. They weren’t just posting pics in threads, they posted threads and filled the sidebar with the same thread, one right after another. It was a pic of an old homosexual, naked, and what he thought was inviting. It was so gross that I still remember it!


149 posted on 09/23/2010 10:24:54 AM PDT by DJ MacWoW (If Bam is the answer, the question was stupid.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: kristinn

Reference Ping on this.

Where ever this one goes I will want to know.

I clearly relate to many people my superior grasp of politics and current events is directly AND SOLELY from Free Republic and that I have been reading and posting there for over ten years.

If the dirt bag in question is going to have justice kick him to the curb I want to know.

It is absolutely correct that ALL of us have been harmed by his actions and his punishment should reflect that.

.


150 posted on 09/23/2010 10:44:43 AM PDT by TLI ( ITINERIS IMPENDEO VALHALLA)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut

151 posted on 09/23/2010 11:06:42 AM PDT by T Minus Four (Hey Glenn Beck: call Todd Friel!!! (Oh never mind, we know the answer now))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 141 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut

152 posted on 09/23/2010 11:06:47 AM PDT by T Minus Four (Hey Glenn Beck: call Todd Friel!!! (Oh never mind, we know the answer now))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 141 | View Replies]

To: kristinn

It’s in Wikipedia too, apparently stemming from this article:

“Can a child pornographer last longer at Free Republic than a Giuliani supporter?”

In salon.com. The article now appears to be gone.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:7FXtyc-XuH4J:www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php%3Faz%3Dview_all%26address%3D389x8321995+Can+a+child+pornographer+last+longer+at+Free+Republic+than+a+Giuliani+supporter&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Hope I don’t get in trouble for this but we should know where it originates.


153 posted on 09/23/2010 11:08:08 AM PDT by Weird Tolkienish Figure
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lurker

Dang!

I can’t get the kiddie porn forum to show up!

How do I set my paramenters??


(I hope I don’t have to emphasize the SARC tag...)


154 posted on 09/23/2010 11:09:23 AM PDT by Elsie ( Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: montag813

Memories...


155 posted on 09/23/2010 11:12:45 AM PDT by Elsie ( Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Elsie
MY mistake. I overheard this conversation and thought they said kiddie porn.

It was really KITTY porn!!


156 posted on 09/23/2010 11:16:08 AM PDT by Elsie ( Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 154 | View Replies]

To: Elsie
Dang! I can’t get the kiddie porn forum to show up! How do I set my paramenters??

Anybody can post it, but you have to be in the dollar-a-day club to actually VIEW it.

157 posted on 09/23/2010 11:16:51 AM PDT by T Minus Four (Hey Glenn Beck: call Todd Friel!!! (Oh never mind, we know the answer now))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 154 | View Replies]

To: T Minus Four

that is wrong, but funny!


158 posted on 09/23/2010 11:19:33 AM PDT by reaganaut (Ex Mormon, now Christian - "I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 152 | View Replies]

To: T Minus Four
I have been a dollar a dayer for 9+ years and I don't want to see it.
159 posted on 09/23/2010 11:22:29 AM PDT by Little Bill (`-)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 157 | View Replies]

To: Little Bill

Got a cigarette?

160 posted on 09/23/2010 11:27:17 AM PDT by T Minus Four (Hey Glenn Beck: call Todd Friel!!! (Oh never mind, we know the answer now))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 159 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 121-140141-160161-180181 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson