Three CNN staffers resign after fake Russia/collusion story retracted

How bad has it gotten at CNN? Earlier today top management announced that no more stories about Russia could run unless they had personal approval from the big bosses. That's because of the fake - and now retracted - story that falsely linked Trump supporter Anthony Scaramucci to this whole collusion nonsense. Late yesterday, three CNN news staffers took the fall:

Thomas Frank, the author of the story, Eric Lichtblau, an editor in the CNN investigative unit that ran the story and Lex Haris, who oversaw the unit, have all left CNN, the network reported Monday.

The story connected Anthony Scaramucci, a top proponent of Trump, to a Russian investment fund run by a bank controlled by the Kremlin. "In the aftermath of the retraction of a story published on CNN.com, CNN has accepted the resignations of the employees involved in the story's publication," a spokesman said Monday. An internal CNN investigation reportedly found that normal editorial processes weren’t followed in the story’s editing and publication. Only one anonymous source was used in the story, and typical parts of CNN’s workflow, such as fact checkers, were reportedly not utilized before publication. Those filled in on the results of the internal investigation were reportedly told that the facts of the story weren’t necessarily wrong, but that the piece wasn’t strong enough to run as is. CNN, which Trump has frequently derided as "fake news," added strict rules for its Russia coverage following the retraction.

Gosh, I can't imagine why Trump would call CNN fake news

Gosh, I can't imagine why Trump would call CNN fake news. Why would he say that? Maybe if I think long enough it will come to me. Anyone who's been half paying attention knows why this happened. CNN is absolutely obsessed with destroying the president, and they're so convinced that he's the embodiment of evil, they've lost all semblance of judgment when it comes to the facts they report as news. If it's something terrible about Trump, it must be true! There's a concept in journalism called "too good to check." It describes a story that you, as a journalist, want so badly to believe that you're reluctant to contact any sources that might cast doubt on it. CNN has reached the point where every anti-Trump story is too good to check. They hate the guy that much. And this one has come back to bite them in a serious way. It was very avoidable too. If it was this easy for Scaramucci to demonstrate after the fact that the story wasn't true, then it would have been easy for them to check with him beforehand - if they'd wanted to.

No one believes a word CNN reports anymore

But that was the problem. CNN didn't want to get it right. CNN only wants to get Trump. And this is now so obvious to everyone, that no one believes a word CNN reports anymore. It's going to sound awfully hollow from now on when CNN talking heads like Jake Tapper and Jim Acosta indigantly lament the president's treatment of the press. Why shouldn't he treat them badly? It's all based on the idea that what they report is fake and false. And so it is.

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