Truthout shown on CNN: "Rumors and Speculation"

[demobabe]

CNN just aired a story on blogging the Libby trial. Firedoglake, Media Bloggers Association, and Talk Left were featured. When they got to Truthout, they showed a Jason Leopold article, pointed to it and mentioned "rumors and speculation."

Ouch. Just on Wolf Blitzer/Situation Room...

[Rex]

1. That is because Truthout is their biggest enemy.

If CNN had it's way, blogs would be illegal.

[demobabe]

3. They didn't pan the other blogs

Just truthout. FDL and TL are also progressive blogs.

[MonkeyFunk]

4. Really?

TruthOut is CNN's biggest enemy?

I'd like to hear more about this hypothesis.

[symbolman]

5. Me too

As far as I knew, Google and I think Yahoo dumped Truthout as News Source for their News.Google.com scene after the Leopold scandal..

They should be jumping up and down even being mentioned by CNN.

CNN's biggest enemy is FOX :)

[Gabi Hayes]

6. how do they feel about these:

Little Green Footballs

Powerline

Instapundit

Michelle Malkin

blogs like those, who actively promote the most egregious lies on an almost constant basis

[demobabe]

7. Never was a question of CNN's bias

The promotion they give to nutball Michelle Malkin especially is gross - I can't stomach her - and I've seen CNN promote the others you mention as well... but they weren't talking about those blogs this time.

They gave fair coverage and promotion to the other progressive blogs - it was just truthout they slammed. The only negative connotation was a possible inferred 'guilt by association' to truthout with the other blogs in regards to the Libby story.

[symbolman]

11. Oh they get plenty of airplay

are you saying that Leopold should be given the same right to make shit up? :)

[Gabi Hayes]

21. not at all! not by any stretch. BUT...

the idea that these total liars get any sort of mention as credible news sources is beyond imagining, doncha think?

it's too bad about Leopold, as he seems to have not limited his excesses to just the Libby story, and correct me if I'm wrong on that, cause, like just about everybody here, I really wanted Rove to be indicted, as he and everybody else in that junta should be

can you imagine if the MSM shined the spotlight of reality/truth on those sites in the same manner they did Leopold, whose story comprised, after all, specuation on what was going to happen, yes?

it's not like he did a Jeff Gerth, Susan Schmidt, Judy Miller act, did he? or did he misrepresent basic facts of the story. I don't remember the details, other than the x number of business days/hours that the indictment would come down, and that he'd be outing his 'source' if it didn't happen

[demobabe]

34. You bring up a great point...

...which is essentially: why do we have so much opinion and speculation on a NEWS channel?

Why is it Cable News Network and not Cable Opinion Network?

Nice anagram: CON.

That seems to fit so much better. ;)

[symbolman]

40. But he doesn't have a news show on 24 business hours a day

:)

He might as well have done a Judith Miller for the damage that's been done. Self Promotion in both cases over the actual story.

Think about those 400 blogs who sucked up his tale of Rove Being Indicted and splashed it all over the web and their sites. THEN what do they do?

They've been marginalized by Bullshit, and that hurts the whole New Media.

And of course there are many stories regarding plagerism and Leopold all over the web, people can make up their own minds about that, but to me, pleading that you are a News Junkie (which I hear is a good book) and then USING that as an excuse to make more shit up doesn't work for me, not at all.

MSM barely noticed Leopold's 'mistakes', and that's telling as well - you can't claim there's some kind of 'conspiracy' against a site who is in effect a mere blip on the Public Radar.

And it's a shame too, many, many great writers have graced Truthout's halls, some were writing for TBTM as well back when we had our staff of three furiously cranking out Flash work.

I don't want to see THOSE Writers work shot down because of the one person Truthout should have distanced themselves from.

[Swamp Rat]

18. Don't forget the republican manwhore:

:D

[Gabi Hayes]

23. no kidn, heh. amazing how that story got ZERO play, effectively, in the M$M, yes?

Saints vs. BEARS!

if I weren't from Chicago, I'd definitely be a Hoodat

[Swamp Rat]

25. Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?!

WHO DAT?! :D

GEAUX SAINTS!!!

[Rex]

14. CNN lost all credibility along with Fox a long time ago.

They just can't stand the blogging community in general since it reports the Truth and they report The Truth(tm).

:evilgrin:

I mean come on, sure Jason my be suspect here but we are talking about huge news stations that hire people like Glenn Beck and Tony Snow. Credibility? When has that ever been a requirement?

[symbolman]

16. OUR credibility is a requirement

that's what my site's been fighting for, for years. To get the FACTS out there, that and the Fairness Doctrine reinstalled.. :)

[Rex]

20. Well I'm not questioning that, but there are a lot of irons in the fire

on OUR side. And I'm right along side you in wanting to return to pre-Reagan standards over the media. There wouldn't have been an invasion of Iraq if we still had the old standards in place! I, for one, am very glad you fight to get the Truth out there! You kick the lamas ass! :hi:

[demobabe]

26. YES! Let's start by bringing back the Fairness Doctrine!

Wouldn't it be cool if CNN had to give equal time to our side? :)

[Rex]

29. They wouldn't know how to stop our side from telling it like it is!

It would shock a large portion of their viewers to find out that 9/11 and Saddam had nothing to do with each other. Even to this day.

[demobabe]

31. So true

You're right... but think of how amazing it would be! :)

[symbolman]

39. Or that Bush is not Ordained by GOD

:)

Just keep running those stories on missing children, puppies in wells, etc, etc :)

BUT I will Speculate here, and NOT CALL IT NEWS, and say that I expect that an Airport somewhere in the USA will experience Security Issues DURING the Libby Proceedings. Happened the day after the Bush ZOMBIE speech last week, and it'll happen again..

Should start a thread on "What do you think they'll throw at us to distract us during the Libby Trial?" :)

[symbolman]

43. LOL

Thanks, we worked hard for many years, and I hope we changed a few minds..

Can't wait to finish my book and get back into the ring, if we use the Truth's as found we can MOP the FLOOR WITH THESE GUYS.

Between being on the O'Reilly show and Scarborough twice I learned a valuable lesson. You lay the TRUTH on them and they fold up like Lawn Chairs.

But if you make shit up, they'll beat you every time, that's where they excel :)

Appreciate the comments :)

[shance]

8. Of course. The ones they hurl the most insults at, are the ones doing the most good.

EOM

[symbolman]

9. Can you explain this for me?

Sort of a generalized statement :)

I hope you're referring to Firedoglake, which has credibility coming out the wazoo.

Leopold's been caught making shit up so many times that in many people's opinion he has no credibility whatsoever. And I am not saying this as an attack on a DU'R, only as he is a Public Figure and so must be held accountable for his actions.

I'm interested in seeing if he's going to be rotated in or out of the Trial as there are two BLOG passes given to the Blogger's as media, as was mentioned in the story on CNN.

This is where the rubber meets the road. If he's considered Credible by the Blog Community now, then whoever controls those press passes will let him in.

Should be interesting.

[MonkeyFunk]

50. that's not true

are you saying nobody belittles anybody who's not better than them?

[leftofthedial]

41. actually, TRUTH is their biggest enemy

truthout is the friend of their enemy

[SpiralHawk]

2. da Scootsta

another corrupt republicon crony.

He be goin down

As he oughta be

We don't need no steenkin republicon traitors messin up America.

What a mug. Does this guy look like an arrogantly corrupt republicon crony, or what?

[demobabe]

12. Almost as ugly as Karl Rove

It will be interesting to watch what happens and to see what media coverage we get.

I'm waiting to see which story they use to keep this off of CNN and the front pages... Iran? Close an airport?

:popcorn:

[Geek_Girl]

10. Who cares what CNN says

:shrug:

They're a pretty crappy source for hard news.

[symbolman]

13. I bet Truthout cares what they same about them

wouldn't you?

I was pretty glad to be on Joe Scarborough's show the second time, after Takebackthemedia.com was one of 14 finalists out of 1600 entries in MoveOn's Bush in 30 Seconds contest.

My ad got national coverage before the winning ad that day.

Can't have it both ways. They are a force to be reckoned with, and the only way to beat them is to tell the TRUTH as a Liberal, and have credibility.

This is what I figured would happen.

[Geek_Girl]

22. You know what they say, there is no such thing as bad publicity

Any attention they get even if negative will drive traffic to their site.

And IMHO CNN is as about credible as Truth Out.

[symbolman]

44. Pre Leopold

I would have said that Truthout has MUCH MUCH more credibility than CNN, hell, at this point Limbaugh's got more creds than CNN, really.. comparing maggots and slugs between those two..

But once Leopold was ALLOWED to spew such bullshit, so much so that they had to INVENT a conspiracy to cover his ass, that's when I lost my respect for them.

The Truth has Three legs and is Stable, can stand on it's own. But a LIE has One Leg, and has to be kept in Motion, constantly Pushed in one direction or the other or else it will fall over. Gets complicated.

The Truth is SIMPLE, and needs no recanting.

Thanks for your post :)

[demobabe]

15. Name one MAINSTREAM progressive TV channel

Oh yeah, that's right. There aren't any.

This is why you need to care what CNN says. They're helping brainwash the masses.

We need to Take Back The Media.

[Geek_Girl]

19. I'd settle for a channel that reports the news factually

IMHO The best way to fight the corporate media is to turn them off.

[demobabe]

24. I'm closing my eyes

And now you can't see me!

Boycotting only works as long as enough people do it to have a monetary impact.

Unfortunately, the big dogs at CNN have more to gain by promoting corporate agenda. AND since CNN is a cable channel part of aggregated packages, you're paying for them regardless if you turn them off or not.

[Geek_Girl]

32. I understand what your getting at

But that's why the internet is such a great place. Sites like Media Matters can be the corporate media watch dogs and keep me informed and appalled at the BS cable news puts out there so I don't have watch.

There is absolutely no reason for me to watch them. CNN is a completely irrelevant news organization and my advice to those who dislike CNN is turn them off.

[mzmolly]

17. Well they should contrast THEIR coverage before the Iraq war to Truthouts, and they'll

see who has the greater amount of "rumors and speculation."

[demobabe]

30. If truthout had a 24 hour TV news channel, we could do that...

...but they don't.

Nobody here is saying that CNN is a reputable place for news. Course CNN is a piece of $%!+. However, it is sad that truthout is now the butt of CNN's jokes.

[mzmolly]

45. One doesn't need a news channel to do so.

Transcripts vs. T.O. archives will do just fine. ;)

[demobabe]

46. Apples and Oranges

Like I've said before, this isn't a comparison between who has better news, is more reputable, etc...

truthout is not a news television station broadcast to millions of homes. CNN is #40 ranked site on the web and has a 24 hour news broadcast on multiple channels.

The problem here isn't the truthout readers. It's the millions of CNN viewers that think what they're watching is factual and accurate.

It's like the guy with the gun: you can tell him repeatedly how wrong it would be for him to shoot you, but ultimately if he goes ahead and shoots you, you're dead.

If CNN makes truthout the butt of it's jokes, then the reality is that truthout may be dismissed by many people as a untruthful site.

[boston bean]

27. Oh, God, let's not beat this dead horse again, PLEASE nt

[DancingBear]

28. Looks like The Flat Earth Society has reconvened

TruthOut has NO credibility.

Zero.

Nada.

They couldn't even stammer a half-assed apology when they were SHOWN to have made shit up.

We fight an uphill battle to get the real truth presented, and when "our side" makes shit up NOBODY should cut us any slack.

NOBODY.

It is beyond my comprehension that anyone can just go "oops, sorry" when somebody tells falsehood after falsehood, only to have someone else comes across chest-thumping and yelling 'it's true, it's true" in hopes that someone would kiss the frog, then slink away when most except the true believers knew the prince would never show.

Because of the state of media today the left needs to act credible times ten in order to be seen as credible period.

We can't cry wolf - ever.

[KharmaTrain]

36. Always amusing reading a Truthout thread around here

I don't see all bad, but I don't see all good about Truthout. I'm still waiting for an explanation about what happened surrounding the Leopold stories...that's where the credibility issue still lies. Weren't we supposed to know the sources by now? In the bigger scheme of things it wasn't what Leopold wrote but how Truthout handled the ensuing maelstrom that left a bad taste in people's mouths. Maybe if there was a better accounting, that would go a long way to either restoring the site's credibility to those who have their doubts or shut up their detractors.

The point many missed here wasn't the comparison with Maulkin or Little Green Footballs, but how it was in comparison with other Progressive sites like FDL, Talkleft and others left of center sites. Everyone was so hopped in in "Fitzmas" and TO set itself up for a fall from many who were let down that Rove wasn't indicted...the timing of Leopold's "scoop" couldn't have come at a worse time.

Honestly, I think bias now lies within the individual. With so many resources available on the internet and network choices, one should be able to determine what is truth from propaganda...or inverse, justify their prejudices with one source or another. I think we view most writers credibility...even those here on DU...with suspect, and not a bad thing...it keeps us all on our toes and honest.

[symbolman]

37. Absolutely

I can't fathom the logic employed by some folks - if the Right Wing Media is corrupt then it's OKAY for US to do the same.. where does that lead us?

Nowhere. By that same logic since there are serial killers out there I should be able to go kill my boss today :)

I agree with you 100% and have been saying this for nearly 7 Years now at our website, we've only had to print One Retraction. Actually TWO if you count that Michael Savage's boys (Lawyers) tried to sue us for a Half a Million bucks, even though it turned out we were RIGHT in a SLAPP suit.

Speaking of "Boy Who Cried Wolf" (and that term is getting a lot of play RE:Bush now) here's an ad I toyed with from the Right wing and Used to tell the TRUTH :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbwoRfFPLcQ

I guess a globe salesman could go bankrupt sometimes, eh? :)

[malaise]

33. Truthout has more credibility than CNN n/t

[demobabe]

35. Truthout is not a TV station in millions of homes

Who has more credibility isn't a question here.

[Rex]

38. It is not credibility, it is intent.

What was CNNs intentions when they did that? Anyone with one braincell should be able to figure it out. Which leaves out 75% of CNN viewers.

[demobabe]

42. Well, I thought it was to take a cheap shot...

...at a blog that already was compromised in the credibility department. truthout isn't any kind of threat to CNN.

But you made the point with the 75% of CNN viewers. They take whatever CNN says as 'fact' - the 'source more Americans trust' or whatever it is they say. And they do! I know a lot of editorial cartoonists that religiously watch CNN, and as a result, a lot of editorial cartoons parrot the exact message right from CNN.

Thankfully many are getting news from Internet sources and so the opinions are becoming more progressive again. For a long while, you'd have 20 cartoonists or so drawing the same exact cartoon using the 'word of the day' on CNN.

We certainly need more opinions and variety in TV news. Too few sources. Too few companies running the news biz.

[Cleita]

47. Damn right. n/t

[BlooInBloo]

48. This is why it behooves us to support claims with EVIDENCE, and kick liars to the curb.

"24 business hours". They said that right to our faces. And DUers STILL supported them. Sheesh.

[Moloch]

49. I think that's a fair statement...

I know I will never believe anything with a Jason Leopold byline.