Story on DNC staffer's murder dominated conservative media -- hours later it fell apart - Polidicks

[quote]It took only hours for one of the biggest stories in conservative media this week, [B]which some outlets had chosen to focus on over news that President Trump disclosed classified information to senior Russian officials[/B], to fall apart. On Monday night, Rod Wheeler, a private investigator and Fox News contributor, put things in motion during an interview with WTTG-TV, a Fox affiliate in Washington. Wheeler, who was under contract with the family of Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staffer who was fatally shot in July, told WTTG-TV evidence existed that proved Rich had been in contact with Wikileaks before his death. For months, right-wing media outlets have floated unproven theories that Rich was the person who provided Wikileaks thousands of internal DNC emails, and that his death might have been connected with the supposed leak. No real evidence has been provided to support such claims and Washington's Metropolitan Police Department, which continues to investigate the murder, says there is evidence to suggest he may have been the victim of a botched robbery. Nevertheless, a handful of right-wing media outlets have latched on to the theory -- and Wheeler's remarks on Monday allowed the narrative to once again ricochet throughout the conservative media universe. "NOT RUSSIA, BUT AN INSIDE JOB?" asked Breitbart, the far-right website previously led by White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, which said that "if proven, the report has the potential to be one of the biggest cover-ups in American political history, dispelling the widespread claim that the Russians were behind hacks on the DNC." "DEAD DNC STAFFER 'HAD CONTACT' WITH WIKILEAKS," declared the headline of the Drudge Report, the highly-trafficked conservative news destination. [B]Fox News on Tuesday morning joined in the chorus, publishing a lead story on its website about the "DC MURDER MYSTERY."[/B] The story said Wheeler had made the claim Wikileaks had been in contact with Rich. It added that a federal investigator, who it said had spoken on the condition of anonymity, corroborated it. But Tuesday afternoon, Wheeler told CNN he had no evidence to suggest Rich had contacted Wikileaks before his death. [B]Wheeler instead said he only learned about the possible existence of such evidence through the reporter he spoke to for the FoxNews.com story. He explained that the comments he made to WTTG-TV were intended to simply preview Fox News' Tuesday story.[/B] The WTTG-TV news director did not respond to multiple requests for comment. [B]"I only got that [information] from the reporter at Fox News," Wheeler told CN[/B]N. Asked about a quote attributed to him in the Fox News story in which he said his "investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and Wikileaks," Wheeler said he was referring to information that had already been reported in the media. [B]A Fox News spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. [/B] Earlier Tuesday, Brad Bauman, a spokesman for the Rich family, released a statement in which he said the family had "seen no evidence" to suggest Seth Rich had been in contact with Wikileaks. Bauman told CNN the outlets that had run with the story "have shown over and over again that they are willing to lie and manipulate the facts" to further "their own political end." [B]"I think it's important for everyone at Fox News to be careful with this information and how this story breaks because using the legacy of a murder victim in such an overtly political way is morally reprehensible," he said. [/B] [/quote] [QUOTE] Bauman also said the Rich family was reviewing possible legal action against Wheeler for speaking about the case publicly. A contract between Wheeler and the Rich family prohibited from speaking to the media about his ongoing investigation, Bauman said. "It is possible that this private investigator is in breach of a non disclosure contract," Bauman told CNN, adding that the private investigator's public comments have "seriously impeded the ability of the Metropolitan Police Department to investigate." Asked whether he was in breach of a contract, Wheeler said, "I don't know, it's hard to say." "I think that's something I will have to work out with [the family]," he added. [/QUOTE] [URL]http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/16/media/seth-rich-family-response-claims-of-wikileaks-contact/index.html[/URL] Apparently, this was the front page of Fox News for most of today. [t]https://i.imgur.com/ECfDsk0.png[/t] Absolutely disgraceful. Most reasonable people already know how Fox News operates but this is a new low for them.

Gee let's check the_donald to see what they have to - - - [img]https://i.redd.it/9kwlhefvayxy.png[/img] Oh

The primary source was Fox News. This is why Fox News is not a credible source. They made this their front page headlining story within minutes of the breaking news on Trump's leak, and it was [I]totally fabricated[/I]. It was nothing but a distraction for their viewers to keep them from learning about Trump's misconduct. Hell, it was [I]worse[/I] than just a distraction -- it sought to immediately undermine the entire event by casting doubt on the Russian connections just when things looked at their worst for Trump. The straight up [B]lied[/B] to attempt to discredit and distract from a major national news story that cast their horse in a bad light. This is why Fox News viewers are actually less informed than those who don't view the news at all, and this is why Fox is banned from being used as a primary source here on FP.

So what you are saying is. Fox News is fake news? :thinking: Gee I never would have guessed.

Just listen to someone who uses Fox News as they're daily news source. And you'll know they're bat shit crazy. My Grand Parents watch Fox News and they're bat shit crazy when it comes to political news.

[QUOTE=Aide;52239467]Just listen to someone who uses Fox News as they're daily news source. And you'll know they're bat shit crazy. My Grand Parents watch Fox News and they're bat shit crazy when it comes to political news.[/QUOTE] It's not an accident. Fox News programming is specifically intended to isolate and radicalize their viewership.

we love the russians so much, we even steal their state media propaganda!

"fox news is biased" *cites CNN* [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Shitpost - Didn't read the article" - Reagy))[/highlight]

[QUOTE=Cabbage;52239689]"fox news is biased" *cites CNN*[/QUOTE] "I have an argument" *shitposts*

-snip-

[QUOTE=Cabbage;52239689]"fox news is biased" *cites CNN*[/QUOTE] I'd rather have CNN than Fox News, considering Fox has shown several times to have no problems with making shit up and presenting it as truth.

[QUOTE=Cabbage;52239689]"fox news is biased" *cites CNN*[/QUOTE] It's not about bias you tool, every media has [i]some[/i] bias. Read the fucking article before you talk.

[QUOTE=BuffaloBill;52239768]I'd rather have CNN than Fox News, considering Fox has shown several times to have no problems with making shit up and presenting it as truth.[/QUOTE] In two months it'll have been ten years since the mysterious hacker known as 4chan did exploding van.

[QUOTE=Cabbage;52239689]"fox news is biased" *cites CNN*[/QUOTE] Completely fabricating a story is more than just bias. Unless you have proof that CNN has fabricated stories that were actually completely false, your argument is just misinformed, at best.

[QUOTE=Cabbage;52239689]"fox news is biased" *cites CNN*[/QUOTE] The problem is that the story was fabricated but you would know that if you read the article.

[QUOTE=Cabbage;52239689]"fox news is biased" *cites CNN*[/QUOTE] fox is wayy worse than CNN

[QUOTE=mdeceiver79;52239955]fox is wayy worse than CNN[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Lambeth;52239930]The problem is that the story was fabricated but you would know that if you read the article.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Tinter;52239926]Completely fabricating a story is more than just bias. Unless you have proof that CNN has fabricated stories that were actually completely false, your argument is just misinformed, at best.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Stopper;52239770]It's not about bias you tool, every media has [i]some[/i] bias. Read the fucking article before you talk.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=kilerabv;52239701]"I have an argument" *shitposts*[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=BuffaloBill;52239768]I'd rather have CNN than Fox News, considering Fox has shown several times to have no problems with making shit up and presenting it as truth.[/QUOTE] Guys, I think he got the message :v:

[QUOTE=Dom Pyroshark;52239965]Guys, I think he got the message :v:[/QUOTE] I don't think that's the case. People who say such blatantly wrong things tend not to get the message very easily, if they ever even do.

[QUOTE=Alice3173;52239994]I don't think that's the case. People who say such blatantly wrong things tend not to get the message very easily, if they ever even do.[/QUOTE] My bad, I keep going back to mindset that most people need to be told only once to realise their mistake for some reason.

The way this story is written is confusing me. [quote]But Tuesday afternoon, [B]Wheeler told CNN he had no evidence to suggest Rich had contacted Wikileaks before his death. [/B] Wheeler instead said [B]he only learned about the possible existence of such evidence through the reporter he spoke to for the FoxNews.com story[/B]. He explained that the comments he made to WTTG-TV were intended to simply preview Fox News' Tuesday story. The WTTG-TV news director did not respond to multiple requests for comment. "I only got that [information] from the reporter at Fox News," Wheeler told CNN. Asked about a quote attributed to him in the Fox News story in which he said his [B]"investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and Wikileaks," Wheeler said he was referring to information that had already been reported in the media.[/B][/quote] So which is it? Did he get this "information" from the FoxNews.com reporter in advance of this story or did he get it from the surrounding media context??? Was he or was he not just teasing the Fox News story? The way that this article is written is kind of difficult to follow for me. Dunno if I've got the dumbo gene or something, but I'm not really confident enough to move forward to claim that this whole thing has been "debunked" as a result. That said, the motivation is obvious for Fox to pursue this for their own agenda. But I don't feel confident enough in the facts to bring this forward in conversation. Wheeler's attitudes seem to be a result of that possible legal action from the family.

[QUOTE=Cabbage;52239689]"fox news is biased" *cites CNN* [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Shitpost - Didn't read the article" - Reagy))[/highlight][/QUOTE] cnn is incredibly biased and frequently cites dubious sources of their own and conducts very obviously skewed interviews but they try not to completely fabricate things, usually. At least msnbc isn't allowed based on the current rules.

Fox news more like Faux News

[QUOTE=UnknownDude;52240505]Fox news more like Faux News[/QUOTE] Boo...

almost like the whole thing was a ploy to distract useful idiots such as t_d and /pol/ from trump's latest controversy

[media]https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/864633503513808896[/media]

[QUOTE=Lambeth;52240693][media]https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/864633503513808896[/media][/QUOTE] It's funny, I saw his show the other day, and he strongly challenged a GOP Trump apologist and pushed the narrative that Trump has done a lot of unnacceptable things. [editline]17th May 2017[/editline] About the article: where exactly is the proof that they fabricated the story? At most it seems they misunderstood Wheeler's claims, but they also cited an alternative anonymous corroborating source, and you've previously been just fine with those.

[QUOTE=sgman91;52240857] About the article: where exactly is the proof that they fabricated the story? At most it seems they misunderstood Wheeler's claims, but they also cited an alternative anonymous corroborating source, and you've previously been just fine with those.[/QUOTE] [quote]Fox News on Tuesday morning joined in the chorus, publishing a lead story on its website about the "DC MURDER MYSTERY." The story said Wheeler had made the claim Wikileaks had been in contact with Rich. It added that a federal investigator, who it said had spoken on the condition of anonymity, corroborated it. But Tuesday afternoon, Wheeler told CNN he had no evidence to suggest Rich had contacted Wikileaks before his death. Wheeler instead said he only learned about the possible existence of such evidence through the reporter he spoke to for the FoxNews.com story. He explained that the comments he made to WTTG-TV were intended to simply preview Fox News' Tuesday story. The WTTG-TV news director did not respond to multiple requests for comment. "I only got that [information] from the reporter at Fox News," Wheeler told CNN. Asked about a quote attributed to him in the Fox News story in which he said his "investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and Wikileaks," Wheeler said he was referring to information that had already been reported in the media. A Fox News spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. [/quote] about the article? you didn't even read the fucking article

[QUOTE=Jund;52241101]about the article? you didn't even read the fucking article[/QUOTE] Yes... I definitely read the article. So FOX cited Wheeler's comments, and an anonymous federal investigator, and then Wheeler came out and clarified that he wasn't actually talking about any new information. How does this show that FOX knew that Wheeler didn't have any new information or that the anonymous source is fake?

[QUOTE=sgman91;52240857]It's funny, I saw his show the other day, and he strongly challenged a GOP Trump apologist and pushed the narrative that Trump has done a lot of unnacceptable things. [editline]17th May 2017[/editline] About the article: where exactly is the proof that they fabricated the story? At most it seems they misunderstood Wheeler's claims, but they also cited an alternative anonymous corroborating source, and you've previously been just fine with those.[/QUOTE] The reason an organisation like Reuters can use anonymous sources is that they effectively back the source's validity with their own reputations. Fox's reputation for accurate news coverage doesn't have any value at all.

[QUOTE=Jund;52241101]about the article? you didn't even read the fucking article[/QUOTE] I actually don't quite understand either. Fox News published a story about Wheeler saying Rich was connected to Wikileaks. I don't know the original source, but [URL=https://youtu.be/qtSM_xhNu0M?t=6m23s]Philip DeFranco shows a clip of Rod Wheeler[/URL], personally, on Fox News, saying that there's [I]absolutely[/I] a [I]confirmed[/I] link between Rich and Wikileaks. Did he then later tell CNN there was no evidence? What the fuck? So when he says he 'got that from the reporter at Fox News', he's talking about what he's saying in the video I linked? Is he just a big enough of an idiot to ape a second-hand accusation that confidently as if it was his own idea?