The Shep Smith story shows the failure of fact-checking

[DonViejo]

A media story about the media reveals the media's lack of self-examination

MARY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS

On Wednesday morning, Gawker writer J.K. Trotter published a piece alleging that “Fox News Shoved Shepard Smith Back Into The Closet” and asking, “Why hasn’t Shepard Smith come out yet?” By Wednesday afternoon, the story had been picked up and repeated ad nauseum throughout the media-on-media vortex of self-absorption. Who cares if the story itself had serious inconsistencies? Aggregate first, ask questions later – if at all!

Smith, generally regarded as the closest thing to a likeable, rational thinking individual in the Fox news stable, is a frequent obsession of Gawker and Trotter in particular, who’s pretty determined to reveal the world Smith’s personal life, regardless of how weird or flat out harassing he may come off in the process. Trotter’s run several stories focusing on Smith’s sexuality in the past few months, while Smith, for his part, remains private about his relationships and orientation.

The latest asks, “Why hasn’t Shepard Smith come out yet?” and cites “multiple sources” who say Smith discussed coming out to Fox News president Roger Ailes but that “Ailes’ answer was definitive: Smith could not say he’s gay.” Furthermore, Gawker claims Smith was “demoted” after Executive Vice President of Programming Bill Shine ”flipped out” at a “dramatic” July 4 picnic that Smith allegedly brought a boyfriend to, leading Shine to call a meeting “among high-level executives to discuss a plan of action regarding Smith.” Not one of the “insider” sources at Fox is named. My favorite part of the whole thing is when Trotter congratulates his own vigilant “reporting” as the reason Smith attended a Fox gay journalists gala in March. My second favorite part is where Gawker updates the story to note that Shine actually didn’t attend said picnic, that Ailes and Smith call the story “100% false and a complete fabrication,” and then clarifies the timeline of Smith’s contract negotiations to acknowledge they occurred before the controversial picnic.

Yet faster than you can say “update,” the story had taken wings Wednesday, with Slate regurgitating, “Fox Allegedly Demoted Shepard Smith Because He Asked to Come Out” and shaking its head that “This doesn’t look good for the news network,” while New York asked, “Did Fox News Force Shep Smith to Stay Closeted?” The Daily Beast, meanwhile, went all in with a single paragraph saying that “Fox Allegedly Kept Anchor in the Closet.”

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/05/01/the_shep_smith_story_shows_the_failure_of_fact_checking/

[Supersedeas]

1. +1

[Inkfreak]

2. This obsession with "outing" people with fame is ugly.

People's personal lives don't deserve dissection regardless of who they may be. I do hope some day that whether or not someone is gay becomes irrelevant in our society.

[Arkansas Granny]

3. Well said.

[gvstn]

4. Yes

I was amazed a Gawker gossip/speculation piece got picked up by so many outlets and reported as "gospel".
It was on the front page of Yahoo News. Embarrassing since Shep had already issued the response where he called the whole thing patently false. Still one of the top 20 stories over there.

Shep never denies being gay, he just doesn't talk about his personal life in public. He is a news anchor not a hypocritical politician and his personal life should not be front page news unless he chooses to make it so.

[Half-Century Man]

5. This is of limited interest.

Mr. Smith's sexual preference is his business alone. Why does anyone really care?

If Mr. Smith is choosing to work for a rabid homophobe, that is also his business.

If he chooses to suppress his alleged sexuality to continue to work at Faux, his business.

If he chooses to come out of any hypothetical closet, he will have my support for the issue alone, but not for what he has publicly proclaimed from the Faux propaganda network.

[JohnnyRingo]

6. K&R

A moment of sane reflection in a pool of starving pirahnas.

[marble falls]

7. The last link is the most important part of the story - it is the story. The rest of this post ....

belongs on the National Enquirer.

[Jefferson23]

8. Why do they think they have the right to do this? It is beyond contempt. n/t