Journalist Tim Pool: Fusion Told Me to Side with Young Liberals ‘Regardless of the Facts’

In a Reddit AMA, former VICE producer Tim Pool claimed that news outlet Fusion instructed him to skew his reporting in favor of “young people being liberal or left leaning… regardless of the facts.”

Pool took to Reddit after he was arrested in Washington, D.C. while covering anti-Trump protests. He was subsequently released without charges.

“Have you ever had word come down to report with a bias or to omit facts in order to push an agenda?” one user asked him. “Had an article edited or denied due to the information not swaying a certain way? Or have you heard of other who have?”

Pool responded:

Yes I have.

Fusion told me and many other staff to “side with the audience.” Which they clarified as young people being liberal or left leaning so that’s the angle we take regardless of the facts. It was not a fun time.

Most companies don’t force journalists to be biased they just hire biased journalists in the first place.

He also added that “money and politics, but usually money” drive business decisions for media outlets, explaining that “an article about violent trump supporters will get waaay more shares than a balanced piece about violence on both sides.”

Pool joined Fusion in 2014 and is described on their website as “director of media innovation at Fusion, and a mobile and technology specialist covering conflict, crisis, and internet culture on the ground and online.” Pool’s reporting while working at VICE was covered by “The Guardian, Reuters, The New York Times, NBC, FastCompany, and Al Jazeera English,” according to his personal website.