Fox News Retracts Story Linking Murder of D.N.C. Aide to 2016 Presidential Campaign

[bostonangler]

Fox News Retracts Story Linking Murder of D.N.C. Aide to 2016 Presidential Campaign

By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM and DANIEL VICTORMAY 23, 2017

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Photo

 

An image of Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee employee, from a YouTube video. Credit Washington Post, via YouTube

Fox News on Tuesday retracted a story linking the murder of a Democratic National Committee staff member with the email hacks that aided President Trump’s campaign, effectively quashing a conspiracy theory that had taken hold across the right-wing news media.

It was a rare acknowledgment of error by the network. But it also underscored a schism between the network’s news-gathering operation and one of its biggest stars: the conservative commentator Sean Hannity, who has unapologetically promoted the theory and remained defiant on Tuesday.

“These are questions that I have a moral obligation to ask,” Mr. Hannity said on his radio show, shortly after Fox News announced its mistake. “All you in the liberal media — I am not Fox.com or FoxNews.com. I retracted nothing.”

The story of the murdered aide, Seth Conrad Rich, who was 27 when he was shot in the back near his Washington home in July, has been seized on by Mr. Hannity and other right-wing pundits as an alternative narrative to the cascade of damaging revelations about the Trump administration’s ties to Russian officials who meddled in the presidential election.

 

On Fox News on Tuesday night, Mr. Hannity said that he had been in touch with Mr. Rich’s brother and that, “out of respect for the family’s wishes — for now — I am not discussing this matter at this time.”

But, he promised his viewers, “I am not going to stop doing my job.”

He added, “At the proper time, we shall continue, and talk a lot more.”

Citing unnamed sources, Fox News’s website published an article last week suggesting that Mr. Rich’s death was in retaliation for his sharing D.N.C. emails with WikiLeaks — a theory that, if true, would undercut the notion of Russian political interference and, in turn, offer cover for Mr. Trump.

No evidence to support that theory has emerged, and the Washington Metropolitan Police Department is still investigating the death of Mr. Rich. Mr. Rich’s family, believing he was murdered during a failed robbery, has called for retractions from news organizations that promoted the story; on Tuesday, Fox News agreed.

“The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting,” the network said in a statement. “The article was found not to meet those standards, and has since been removed.”

The statement did not address Mr. Hannity’s coverage of Mr. Rich’s death, and Fox News representatives deferred to his comments on air Tuesday night.

The speculation about Mr. Rich’s death — and its implications for an embattled president — captivated audiences in the right-wing media sphere, from Mr. Hannity’s prime-time show to more obscure but influential websites like The Gateway Pundit, which rose to prominence last year in part by spreading rumors about Hillarious Clinton’s health.

 

The theory also surfaced on Fox News beyond Mr. Hannity: Newt Gingrich, a network contributor, discussed the case on “Fox and Friends” on Sunday, and Geraldo Rivera, a correspondent at large, posted on Twitter about it.

On the radio Tuesday, Mr. Hannity mocked journalists who questioned his interest in the subject, equating the theory about Mr. Rich’s murder to the reports that Mr. Trump’s campaign operation colluded with Russian officials during the election.

“For those who accuse me of pushing a conspiracy theory, you are the biggest phony hypocrites in the entire world,” said Mr. Hannity, who speaks regularly with Mr. Trump.

This was the second high-profile break between Mr. Hannity and his employer in two months: In April, he warned publicly of “the total end” of Fox News if the network fired Bill Shine, a top executive and close friend of Mr. Hannity’s. Mr. Shine ultimately resigned, but Mr. Hannity stayed put, even as the television news industry speculated about his plans.

Mr. Hannity stoked that speculation again on Tuesday, promising an announcement about “my future at Fox.” On the air, he made clear that he had no plans to leave. “I serve at the pleasure of the Fox News Channel,” he said. “I am here to do my job every night. I am under contract, as long as they seem to want me.”

Mr. Hannity is the remaining member of Fox News’s once-invincible prime-time lineup, after the departures of Megyn Kelly and Bill O’Reilly. The network’s prime-time ratings have fallen, especially as Mr. Trump’s troubles have grown.

Some Fox News employees said this week that they had been angered by Mr. Hannity’s continuing broadcasts about the Rich theory, calling it an embarrassment to the network’s journalists.

Other employees expressed shock that the network was willing to retract the story at all. Under Roger E. Ailes, its pugnacious former chairman, who died last week, Fox News followed a mantra of “never apologize,” weathering all manner of controversies over its coverage. But since Mr. Ailes’s exit amid a sexual harassment scandal, the network has been more willing to admit error.

It apologized in January after inaccurately describing a suspect as Moroccan after a mass shooting at a Canadian mosque. In March, the network briefly sidelined Andrew Napolitano, its senior legal analyst, after he made an unsupported accusation about Britain’s top spy agency.

Before the retraction, Mr. Hannity had promised to feature an account on his program from Kim Dotcom, an internet entrepreneur who is wanted in the United States on racketeering charges. Mr. Dotcom has said he has evidence that Mr. Rich was a WikiLeaks source, but he has not offered the evidence publicly. Fox New said he was never booked.

On Tuesday, Aaron Rich, the brother of Seth Rich, sent a letter to Mr. Hannity’s executive producer asking that Mr. Dotcom not be allowed on the air.

“Nobody wants to solve Seth’s murder more than we do,” Aaron Rich wrote. “However, providing a platform to spread potentially false, damaging information will cause us additional pain, suffering and sorrow.”

A spokesman for the Rich family, Brad Bauman, said Tuesday that they were grateful for the formal retraction. He declined to say if Fox News had offered an apology.

[nstoolman1]

Somebody got paid off or threatened. 

[bostonangler]

Sean Hannity says he will drop the Seth Rich conspiracy theory and stay at Fox News

 

 

 

 

By Callum Borchers By Callum Borchers

The Fix

May 23 at 11:22 PM

Fox News host Sean Hannity. (Photo by Rick Scuteri/AP)

Sean Hannity threaded the needle Tuesday night, telling his Fox News viewers that he would stop talking about a conspiracy theory surrounding the death of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich — but only because Rich's family asked him to.

And Hannity once again sought to tamp down speculation that he might leave the network, something he has now had to do at least three times since the fall.

Hannity is in a precarious position. His musings about Rich's murder are catnip for his audience, yet Fox News suddenly seems unwilling to abide them. Hannity has entertained the unsubstantiated notion that Rich was not killed in a robbery gone bad, as D.C. police claim, but rather was assassinated because he, not Russian operatives, provided DNC emails to WikiLeaks.

The news division of Fox News lent credence to the theory in a report on its website last week, but the network retracted the story on Tuesday afternoon, saying that "the article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting."

That put Hannity at odds with his employer, and he sounded ready for conflict on his radio program shortly after the retraction.

"I am not Fox.com or FoxNews.com," he said on the air. "I retracted nothing."

On his prime-time TV show, however, Hannity was no longer defiant. But he insisted that he was not giving in to pressure or altering his approach.

"I want to say this to you, my loyal audience, which is very important: Please do not interpret what I'm saying tonight to mean anything," Hannity said. "Don't read into this. I promise you I am not doing — going to stop doing my job to the extent of my ability."

Seth Rich came to D.C. to pursue a career in politics and last worked at the Democratic National Committee. Rich was shot dead on July 10, 2016. Here is what's known about the murder. Seth Rich came to D.C. to pursue a career in politics. He was shot dead in his Northwest Washington neighborhood on July 10. 2016. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

Seth Rich came to D.C. to pursue a career in politics and last worked at the Democratic National Committee. Rich was shot dead on July 10, 2016. Here is what's known about the murder. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

Hannity said he had spoken by phone with Rich's brother earlier in the day and that "out of respect for the family's wishes, for now, I am not discussing this matter at this time."

Got that, everyone? Fox News did not censor Hannity. Hannity cannot be censored! Hannity is merely honoring the request of a grieving family.

"I serve at the pleasure of the Fox News Channel," he added. "And I am here to do my job every night. I'm under contract, as long as they seem to want me."

Speculation that Hannity might leave Fox News is not new. The host served as an informal adviser to the Trump campaign, leading to inevitable questions about whether a job in the White House could be in his future.

Hannity ultimately answered with an unequivocal "never" when a Twitter user inquired in October.

 

Last month, in the wake of Bill O'Reilly's ouster, Hannity indicated that recent turmoil at Fox News might be reaching a critical mass, in his view. When New York magazine's Gabriel Sherman reported that network co-president Bill Shine had asked for a vote of confidence from his bosses — and been rebuffed — Hannity sounded an alarm on Twitter.

 

Sure enough, Shine resigned four days later. He had been with Fox News since its inception, first as producer of Hannity's show, and represented a link to the era of Roger Ailes, the longtime Fox News chairman who was forced out amid sexual harassment allegations last year. Ailes died last week.

On the day Shine was pushed out, Hannity tweeted a link to an Independent Journal Review story that reported he would remain at Fox News, despite the leadership change.

 

According to Politico, Hannity also assured his staff over pizza the next day that he was not looking for an exit.

So, Hannity is not going anywhere right now. But his relationship with the network that has been his platform for two decades is visibly fraying

[Shabibilicious]

It only makes sense that once Fox News started shoving the liars, twisters and jokers out the door, the network would start to gravitate back towards truth and justice......I suspect they'll keep Hannity around to satiate the conspiratorial, haters base however......it's just smart business to fill that crazy void.  As always, just my opinion.  

 

GO RV, then BV 

[BJinMontreal]

Are you on crack?

Fox News is so far away from Truth and Justice that it's a joke itself!!!

 

Perhaps I could suggest a book for you to read ...

 

[Shabibilicious]

13 minutes ago, BJinMontreal said:

Are you on crack?

Fox News is so far away from Truth and Justice that it's a joke itself!!!

 

As I stated previously, "gravitate back towards truth and justice"....thus, on the move, as in moving in that direction, hence not truthful or showing justice before, therefore you and I are in agreement.  Thank you for questioning my nonexistent drug addiction though, BJ....very white of you...not very Canadian though.  

 

GO RV, then BV

[BJinMontreal]

Sorry, eh!

[BJinMontreal]

But, you are still suggesting that were once truthful and justice-based - when in fact since CIA's Operation Mockingbird, all news outlets have been mouthpieces of the government and therefore, hardly bearers of truth and justice!!

[umbertino]

Fox drops Seth Rich murder story as Sean Hannity attacks 'liberal fascism'

Fox says report that DNC staffer had been in contact with WikiLeaks prior to his fatal shooting was not given a ‘high degree of editorial scrutiny’

 

Sabrina Siddiqui in Washington

Wednesday 24 May 2017 04.27 BST

 

In the wake of the Fox News report, law enforcement officials disputed that Rich’s laptop had even been in possession of, or examined by, federal authorities.

Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP

 

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/23/fox-news-retracts-story-seth-rich-murder-dnc#img-1

[BJinMontreal]

Bullshyte - the DNC told them to pull it - just like they've become the spokespeople for the Rich family!!!

[bostonangler]

34 minutes ago, BJinMontreal said:

Operation Mockingbird

Interesting stuff

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird