The far-right cable network One America News retracted a story and apologized Monday after it falsely claimed former President Donald Trump’s ex lawyer Michael Cohen was the one who had an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels and secretly used it to “extort” the Trump Organization.
But this is how they get away with it. People remember the accusation but not the retraction. CNN says they made the retraction today. It’s currently 4:37 pm EST. That means they made this retraction at some point in the day where very few people were watching. By design. They may not mention this story again in prime time, but they won’t mention the retraction either.
The requirement should be that the retraction must take as much airtime as the accusation during the same time block.
Lie about Cohen banging porn stars for an hour during prime time? I guess you lost an hour of prime time even if you just have to repeat, “That story wasn’t true. We were wrong” for an hour.
But this is how they get away with it. People remember the accusation but not the retraction. CNN says they made the retraction today. It’s currently 4:37 pm EST. That means they made this retraction at some point in the day where very few people were watching. By design. They may not mention this story again in prime time, but they won’t mention the retraction either.
And don’t forget about all of the other “news” outlets that get away with echoing every lie by reporting, “OAN said…”.
These guys don’t have to run a retraction at all if they phrase it as a story about what someone else is reporting.
The requirement should be that the retraction must take as much airtime as the accusation during the same time block.
Lie about Cohen banging porn stars for an hour during prime time? I guess you lost an hour of prime time even if you just have to repeat, “That story wasn’t true. We were wrong” for an hour.
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That phrase (or at least an approximation of it) has a very old history. Going back to Ancient Rome. That shows how often people get away with lying.
https://interestingliterature.com/2021/06/lie-halfway-round-world-before-truth-boots-on-quote-origin-meaning/
Interesting read, thanks!
A pertinent quote from the article by Jonathan swift