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Buzzfeed’s “if true” bombshell report that Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress legalinsurrection.com/2019/01/buzzfe…
We have been here sooooooo many times before.
A media outlet publishes an article based on anonymous sources providing info that is so vague it cannot be proven or disproven, but purports to (1) implicate Trump in a crime, (2) show collusion w/the Russians, &/or (3) raise enough suspicions to justify a 3-5 day news cycle.
So many of these reports are dropped before a weekend, guaranteeing they will dominate the news cycle for days.
And in each and every instance the report is blown out of the water or substantially rewritten, other news outlets could not verify, or other news outlets themselves call the report into doubt.
Even when there is a kernel of fact underlying the report, the spin is usually the key to why people click on it. This is all fed by the news media “Scoop” culture.
The typical reaction from people who are not part of #TheResistance, whether Trump supporters or not, is the preface “if true.”
I’ve seen a number of people say they follow a 24-hour rule on these bombshell reports. I think that’s too kind. It’s better to wait 48-72 hours, at a minimum, since so many of these bombshells take days, not hours, to reveal themselves to be duds.
