The Trump-Russia collusion story was a big deal for a long time in America’s news.
Originally published by WND News Service. Used with permission.
There were claims that the then-presidential candidate’s campaign was working with Russia against Hillary Clinton, now known to be a two-time loser in the presidential sweepstakes.
But he called it a “witch hunt” and the facts as they eventually emerged were that it was Clinton, and other Democrats along with the leftists in the FBI, who actually colluded with Russian sources to fabricate the claims that were made in the now-debunked “Steele Dossier.”
There even were false statement submitted to a Washington court to obtain permission to spy on Trump’s campaign – statements coming from a bureau that included veteran FBI agents who discussed with each other how they would not allow Trump to be president.
Awards were handed out for the reporting that proved to be based on lies.
But a new report from Just the News now is citing a series of articles in the Columbia Journalism Review that warns those doing that reporting, including the New York Times, damaged their credibility.
And that “persists, three years on,” according to investigative reporter Jeff Gerth.
“Mainstream media’s partisan and sloppy handling of the Trump-Russia collusion narrative has irreversibly damaged its credibility with the American public, according to an explosive, four-part report by investigative journalist Jeff Gerth released Monday by the Columbia Journalism Review, “Just the News explains.
He names publications that “dropped the ball,” the report documents. And he discusses when Dean Baquet, then executive editor of the Times, and his readers realized special counsel Robert Mueller was “not going to” seek Trump’s removal from office.
Mueller’s investigation, of course, came up with no evidence to support the Democrats’ agenda against Trump.
Gerth also wrote how the “debunked” Steele Dossier was published, even that there wasn’t evidence to support it.
“Despite Gerth’s revelations and the withering quotes he collected from prominent media figures criticizing the reporting of outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post, the Times remained unrepentant, maintaining its reporting and analysis regarding the discredited Russiagate narrative were always above reproach from the start,” Just the News said.
In fact, for Gerth’s articles, the Times “touted” the awards it won, and claimed to have “thoroughly pursued credible claims, fact-checked, edited, and ultimately produced ground-breaking journalism that has proven true time and again.”
The article didn’t address the demands from Trump that the various awards for those articles be returned, since they were based on lies.
Gerth noted that “the damage to the credibility of the Times and its peers persists, three years on, and is likely to take on new energy as the nation faces yet another election season animated by antagonism toward the press.”
Just the News noted that today only 26% of Americans “trust news generally.”