Buzzfeed accused of thinking it’s ‘above the facts’ as outrage grows over website’s decision to publish unverified Donald Trump report
BUZZFEED has been accused of thinking it's "above the facts" as outrage grows after its decision to publish an unverified report alleging Donald Trump took part in a sordid sex act with prostitutes.
The site sparked a media storm after it broke the story earlier this week detailing contents of the unverified dossier authored by MI6 Brit spy Christopher Steele.
It claims Trump watched prostitutes engage in degrading sex in a Moscow hotel room and that Russia could use this information to blackmail the President-elect.
Furious Trump called BuzzFeed a “disgrace” and “a failing pile of garbage”, when he appeared for a pre-arranged press conference a day after the site published the allegations.
During the fiery press conference, the President-elect also let rip on CNN, which later reported on the dossier, labelling them "fake news".
His adviser Anthony Scaramucci told yesterday that Trump will continue to call out “falsehoods” in the news and “will go directly to the American people, right over the top of the mainstream media.”
She added: "It is wrong for any respected news organisation to publish information it knows may not be true."
Radio host Jon Gaunt joined in denouncing Buzzfeed's Russian dossier story, calling it "scumbag journalism" and "similar to gossip".
He told presenters at : "You can’t possibly put this out as news. They haven’t verified it; they haven’t backed it up. It is scurrilous it is scumbag journalism."
Poynter's Kelly McBride, writing in , said: "The most damaging result of BuzzFeed’s unfortunate decision is Trump’s newfound weapon to dismiss all journalists who criticize him as unfair and unethical."
Poynter made headlines recently after it emerged Facebook had asked it to stamp down on fake news following the scandal during the US presidential election.
But in an article on the titled “BuzzFeed was right to publish the Trump blackmail dossier, and the world is a better place for it”, it stated: “Video or no video, true or false — it’s better for everyone if the material is aired immediately”.
She added: "This could lead to an argument that BuzzFeed acted ‘recklessly’ and made editorial decisions that were contrary to standard journalistic verification practices."
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