Linkmeister

Dear CNN

Adhering to the objectivity ideal does not mean mindlessly repeating falsehoods issued from political figures.

On the October 5 editions of The Situation Room and CNN Newsroom, CNN continued to report uncritically the assertion that Democratic operatives knew "all along" of Rep. Mark Foley's (R-FL) alleged communications with former congressional pages and are "behind the spreading scandal," ignoring a report in The Hill newspaper that a House Republican aide provided Foley's alleged emails to the media and a statement by ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross that the sources for his initial Foley report -- to the extent they had partisan affiliations -- were Republicans.

From The Hill:

The source who in July gave news media Rep. Mark Foley’s (R-Fla.) suspect e-mails to a former House page says the documents came to him from a House GOP aide.

That aide has been a registered Republican since becoming eligible to vote, said the source, who showed The Hill public records supporting his claim.

The same source, who acted as an intermediary between the aide-turned-whistleblower and several news outlets, says the person who shared the documents is no longer employed in the House.

But the whistleblower was a paid GOP staffer when the documents were first given to the media.

You know, it's really not that hard to pick up a telephone and call the guy who reported the story (Ross) and ask him if there's any truth to Hastert's and the Noise Machine's claims that Democrats were behind it. I'm sure Time-Warner's budget includes a line item for long distance call expenses.

Posted by Linkmeister at October 6, 2006 12:15 PM | TrackBack