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David Folkenflik Profile picture
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24 Nov, 8 tweets, 2 min read
NEWS: Fox News reaches settlement with Seth Rich's parents over May 2017 story baselessly alleging he had leaked 1000s of DNC emails to Wikileaks during the 2016 campaign. Fox also suggested - without any evidence - link between Dems and Rich's death in July 2016. /more
Joel and Mary Rich: “The settlement with Fox News closes another chapter in our efforts to mourn the murder of our beloved Seth, whom we miss every single day... We are pleased with the settlement of this matter & sincerely hope the media will take genuine caution in the future"
No public apology and no financial or other details offered.

Fox News statement: "We are pleased with the resolution of the claims and hope this enables Mr. and Mrs. Rich to find a small degree of peace and solace moving forward.”
The Fox story, reported by Malia Zimmerman & coordinated by then unpaid Fox contributor, Ed Butowsky, cited:

a/ quotes from a private investigator (himself then a paid Fox contributor) whom they conceded on tape never said those words
b/ anonymous sources never mentioned again
Much documentation of the background to that May 2017 story - withdrawn after 8 days of fierce outcry - arrived that Aug in lawsuit by the investigator and my additional reporting inspired by it

npr.org/2017/08/01/540…
My Aug 2017 story on butowsky
npr.org/2017/08/16/543…
My Sept 2017 story on Fox's lack of accountability on story
npr.org/2017/09/15/551…
Hear the voices and anguish of Joel and Mary Rich in my interview with them in August 2017

npr.org/2017/08/07/542…

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More from @davidfolkenflik

David Folkenflik Profile picture
9 Oct
Here's a little fun fact about the imbroglio at the Voice of America

USAGM CEO Michael Pack has justified turning the agency upside down by invoking the Q of security clearances and possible espionage / con't
Pack has not publicly specified any harm.

To Federalist, he said, “To be a journalist is a great cover for a spy – famous journalists like Kim Philby who worked for the BBC… It’s just a great cover. And from the beginning of the Cold War, even earlier, they’ve been penetrated."
Leave aside that the example of Philby is three generations old. Leave aside that I can't find evidence online that Philby worked for the BBC, though he did act as a reporter.

The problem of Philby wasn't that he penetrated the press. It was that he reached elite ranks of MI6!
Read 5 tweets
David Folkenflik Profile picture
5 Oct
Thread: It may seem like some quaint vestige of a time gone by.

But let me spell out why I think developments at the Voice of America and its parent agency are important to track, even as so many crises are unfolding before our eyes. /cont

My latest: npr.org/2020/10/04/919…
The VOA reaches 280MM+ people abroad each week. It provides a service for lands that don't have a free press and serves as a symbol of American political liberty & open debate by covering all sides.

Staffers tell me its credibility is being damaged by its CEO, appointed by Trump
Trump & WH routinely seek to thwart flow of independent information.

Right now, a key part of the WH crisis is credibility: can you trust what it says on the pandemic, on Trump's own health, on the economy & so on.
Read 12 tweets
David Folkenflik Profile picture
31 Aug
NEWS: 14 veteran journalists at the Voice of America send letter of protest against Trump's appointee as parent agency's CEO, Michael Pack, saying he is harming US aims and imperiling its reporters / more

My story:
npr.org/2020/08/31/907…
Pack's comments and decisions "endanger the personal security of VOA reporters at home and abroad, as well as threatening to harm U.S. national security objectives," the letter to VOA Acting Director Elez Biberaj reads. / more
The protest came after a long line of sweeping changes and purges at the federally funded networks overseen by Pack. But it was triggered by interview Pack gave to conservative site the Federalist.

"It's a great pace to put a foreign spy," Pack said/ MORE
Read 5 tweets
David Folkenflik Profile picture
10 Jun
Pittsburgh PG executive editor Keith Burris re ⁦@alexisjreports⁩:

“No fair person could make the case that our actions were race-based. We will not apologize for upholding professional standards in journalism or attempting to eliminate bias.” /MORE
post-gazette.com/local/region/2…
2/ Burris says Johnson was barred from coverage because her tweet betrayed bias.

Does not address case of white colleague warned about tweet disparaging man accused of looting was allowed to keep writing about protests until union pointed out disparity - as NPR reported Monday /
3/ Burris confirmed tgat 80 Post-Gazette journalists, including Michael Santiago, were also sidelined from covering protests for retweeting @alexisjreports’ original offending tweet in solidarity with her.

It compares looters to those who trashed area after concert tailgate.
Read 6 tweets
David Folkenflik Profile picture
25 Jan
Secretary Pompeo asserts (without evidence) that NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly lied twice - saying their interview was only to focus on Iran and that post-interview exchange was to be off record.

A point about each: /con’t
In interview, transcript shows Pompeo did not contradict @NPRKelly when she noted she confirmed w his aides she’d ask about Ukraine too. (Aide was in room.)

Don’t take my word - here’s State Dep’t transcript:
state.gov/secretary-mich…

/con’t
Also, Kelly told listeners she was then asked to speak w Pompeo without colleagues or recorder - but that no one sought to place off record. And she said she would not have accepted that. Her account:
npr.org/transcripts/79…

/con’t
Read 4 tweets
David Folkenflik Profile picture
22 Oct 19
NEWS: Astros assistant GM Brandon Taubman was targeting a female reporter wearing a purple bracelet on domestic violence.

She has tweeted frequently on DV; he complained about her tweets offering info on DV hotlines when Roberto Osuna appeared in Astros games in 2018. My story:
This account is based on interviews with three witnesses to Saturday's incident and another four interviews. Osuna was considered damaged goods when his contract was obtained in a trade from the Toronto Blue Jays - in financial terms, a distressed asset acquired at a discount.
In a statement late this afternoon, Taubman offered an apology of sorts, saying he was exuberant in defense of Osuna, a star reliever who had given up a two-run home run; Taubman protested he was "progressive" and misunderstood.
Read 5 tweets

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