Posted on 01/14/2017 1:19:54 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
If there was any doubt, the uproar this week over BuzzFeeds publication of unverified allegations about President-elect Donald J. Trump made clear that the gatekeeper role once played by major news media organizations has vanished in the digital age.
This poses a deep danger for legitimate, aggressive journalism, especially from the president-elect, who has been consistent in his heavy-handed demonization of any and all media whenever he dislikes critical but accurate stories about him.
BuzzFeeds irresponsible decision to publish a seamy and wholly unsubstantiated research dossier about Mr. Trump by a former British spy gave him the opportunity to attack not only BuzzFeed but also CNN, which had reported accurately about the documents existence but, properly, had declined to reveal its unverified contents. By conflating the conduct of the two news organizations as examples of the growing menace of malicious, digitally spread fake news, he undermined the vigorous, accurate journalism that is necessary to hold him and his incoming administration accountable.
The dossier published by BuzzFeed was originally intended as opposition research against Mr. Trump. Theres nothing unusual about this; political campaigns routinely investigate the background of their opponents to identify vulnerabilities. This information is often passed quietly to reporters in hopes that a damaging article will result. What was surprising in this case was that the allegations against Mr. Trump, none of them verified, ended up on a highly popular news website.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
More Fake News from the Slimes.
No one’s ever fought back before and they don’t know how to handle it.
Name one....
Like they held the 0bama administration accountable?????
Give me a freakin’ huge break. What a freakin’ huge joke our press has become.
CGato
Attack. Lol.
Any Assh*le can hold a Microphone, and ask a question.
LEAKING AMERICAN SECRETS TODAY
Only the MSM is allowed to attack DT with impunity. Dems duh rules.
New York Times = Tass
These same people never utter a single peep about Obama attacking Fox News, Rush, etc. right?
To hell with "the press."
It’s a First Amendment right to question the ‘news’ media as well. They are not above being questioned and their power needs to be checked.
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.