Big Journalism called out Arianna Huffington’s Post for an ethics violation on October 27th by pointing out their role in manufacturing a smear aimed at Libertarian philanthropist Charles Koch, while pretending to simply be reporting it. Unfortunately, the White House Press Corp credentialed Huffington Post has opted to respond by quietly updating a previous post in an attempt to salvage some credibility, while including an update that only impugns their credibility even more.
Its post-publication update for accuracy is bad enough; their unnecessary and inaccurate casting of aspersions, again against Koch, is far worse.
**Disclosure: Since Joel and Gabe both experienced technical difficulties with their phones, I let Joel use my cell to place the call to Charles Koch’s office.**
Evidently Huffington Post propagandist Brendan DeMelle never put forth any effort to determine what Big Journalism was able to confirm with relative ease.
Update #1:The car I arrived in along with Gabe Elsner was tailed after dropping us off (on public property), and our driver reported being passed by three times by a red burgundy Cadillac with Missouri plates AA3Z5L, driven by a white male smoking cigarettes. Whether this was a Koch employee or contract security guard has not been confirmed but I am working on finding out.
It’s surprising that DeMelle never bothered to follow up, most especially given that all he had to do was ask one of his fellow activists along on the media stunt and attempted smear of Koch. The vehicle in question is registered to Democrat Van B. Adams, whose wife Taunia actually Tweeted about her participation at the event, while naming the activist and Arianna’s pseudo-journalist all in one Tweet. Taunia Adams touts herself as an FDR Democrat, making her politics quite clear on her main Twitter page.
#kochdebate Outside Koch Industries w/ Gabe & Brendan. Joel Francis to arrive any minute to deliver debate demand on CA #Prop23
DeMelle used the car of one of his compatriots to leave Huffington Post readers with the false impression that they feared they were being followed by “a Koch employee or contract security guard,” when nothing could be further from the truth. It’s a shame that a once respectable organization such as the White House Press Corp continues to allow its reputation to be tarnished by allowing in a publication so obviously invested in manufacturing propaganda, not simply reporting the news.
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